Jerk Salmon

When I make a batch of Jerk sauce I split it, usually into three batches - it freezes well and you can either cover some meat or fish in the sauce then freeze, or simply freeze the sauce in a freezer bag.

I first happened upon fish 'jerked' in Jamaica a few years back and ever since I have been experimenting and my favourite fish with the jerk treatment absolutely has to be salmon. It's the sweetness of the salmon which completely offsets the aromatic, powerfully punchy hot jerk and makes for a marvellous mouthful.

Sometimes I serve it with the traditional 'rice and pea' combination, but here during my healthy eating and fat fighting regime, I had it with 50g fried cauliflower rice (pepper up with garlic, chilli and spring onions), fresh corn and a selection of green vegetables. It is utterly delicious and completely addictive!

These days I make my jerk sauce in my Nutribullet as it's much easier to clean than my traditional Kenwood blender. 

Jerk Salmon

Here's how: 

• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 50g grated ginger
• 6 Scotch bonnets (including seeds) 
• 2 tbsp dried Thyme
• 1 tbsp Dunne's River All Purpose Seasoning
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• Juice of 2 limes
• 4 tbsp Soy sauce
• 100g Brown sugar
• 4 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper

Peel and chop the onion roughly and add to Nutribullet or blender. Peel the garlic and add to the onions.

Use plastic gloves if you have them to roughly chop the Scotch Bonnets then add to the blender. Now discard the gloves and wash your hands thoroughly - you really don't want that spice in your eye later!

Add all the other marinade ingredients, place the lid on and blitz to a smooth paste.

Now pour over the salmon, ensuring every part is covered so the sauce really permeates the flesh of the fish. I usually use a throwaway dish for jerk as it can be quite messy, so I tend to marinade in here also. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. If you haven't got that long, then leave the salmon for at least a couple of hours.

Jerk Salmon

When ready to cook the salmon, Remove from the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature whilst heating up the oven to 200 degrees. You want it nice and hot - salmon cooks quickly but you want some nice charred bits on the outside and you won't get that if the oven's not piping hot.

Place into the oven and cook for fifteen minutes. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

A couple of other ‘jerked’ recipes:

1. Jerk Chicken
2. Jerk Ham