Welcome to Jamaican week!🏝 Kicking off our Caribbean feast with Jerk Fish – pan-fried fish coated with Jamaican jerk seasoning that adds a stack of flavour and makes it crispy. Thin white fish fillets cook in 3 minutes which makes Jerk Fish a super fast dinner!
Every now and then, I like to do a week of recipes for a themed menu. This week, it’s Jamaican week so you can make your very own Caribbean feast at home! Who’s in the mood for some tropical vibes??
🌴 Jamaican menu 🌴
Main – this Jerk Fish
Side salad – Jamaican Slaw
Side – Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas (beans)
Dessert – rum and raisin ice cream without an ice cream maker!
Kicking off Jamaican week with the main – Jerk Fish!
Why you need Jerk Fish in your life
🌴 It’s Jamaican – so it’s cool. (Just ask Dozer, below).
🌴 Big, bold, Caribbean flavours using everyday spices: garlic, onion, thyme, paprika, all spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne.
🌴 It’s fine if you’re missing one or two spices cause there’s so many spices in it anyway.
🌴 Takes 3 minutes on the stove.
Don’t have fish? Use the jerk seasoning on chicken, shrimp/prawns or vegetables. Tips in the recipe.
What goes in jerk seasoning
Here are the spices you need for jerk seasoning. The perfect blend of savoury flavour, a hint of spiciness with the signature touch of sweetness. The smell when it hits the pan is intoxicating!
There’s so many spices in Jerk seasoning, if you’re missing one (or two…) it’s not the end of the world, you’ll still end up with a terrific Jamaican-(ish) spice blend. Here are substitution suggestions:
Garlic powder – more onion powder, and vice versa
Dried thyme – oregano
Brown sugar – 2 tsp caster sugar / superfine sugar
Cayenne pepper – Pure ground chilli, red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or omit if you want not spicy
Smoked paprika – ordinary paprika
Allspice powder – Mixed spice
Cinnamon powder – Try not to leave this out! It adds an irreplaceable special touch.
Nutmeg powder – More cinnamon
Fish for jerk fish
The fish pictured throughout this post is snapper, pictured below, but jerk seasoning will work with any type of fish fillet that’s suitable for pan frying as long as it is a thin fillet no thicker than 1.5 cm / 0/6″ at the thickest point. It needs to be thin so it cooks through within 3 – 4 minutes else the jerk seasoning will burn.
Snapper is a very popular fish here in Australia, beloved for the mild, sweet, delicate flavour, which is not “fishy” at all. The flesh is moderately firm and moist, and fillets are easy to cook evenly because they are flat with an even thickness (as opposed to, say, salmon, when some fillets have a very thick “hump” (the loin) though you can find thin salmon fillets (the tail end).
Don’t have fish? You can the jerk seasoning on chicken, shrimp/prawns or vegetables. Tips in the recipe.
How to make jerk fish
In a nutshell: coat fish in the jerk seasoning then pan fry for 2 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the second side. That’s a 3 minute dinner – we need more of these in our life!!!
Jerk seasoning – Mix the jerk seasoning spices in a bowl.
Coat – Spread the jerk seasoning in a tray or plate just large enough to fit the fish fillets. Then coat each piece of fish with the seasoning, pressing to adhere. Shake off excess and put on a plate. Repeat with remaining fish.
Pan fry 3 minutes – Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. As soon as you see the first small wisps of smoke, place 2 fillets in the pan presentation side down. Cook for 2 minutes on the first side until the surface is a deep bronze colour with a reddish tinge (don’t let it burn!), carefully flip then cook the other side for 1 minute.
CHEFFY TIP: How to flip fish properly
Fish is delicate so you have to flip carefully. I used to use a spatula plus a butter knife or my free hand to control the flip so the fish wouldn’t break.
Forget that! Here’s how chefs do it:
Tilt the pan slightly so the oil pools on one side and won’t splatter on you.
Flip the fish with a spatula “uphill” so you have the help of gravity slowing down the flip so the delicate fish will not break.
GAME-CHANGER! (See video at 33 seconds for a demo)
Rest 2 minutes – Transfer the fish to a rack and rest for 2 minutes. It’s best to use a rack to preserve the crispiness of the jerk-crust. If you use a plate, the underside will sweat and compromise the crispiness. Not the end of the world… but a rack is better!
Once rested, transfer the fish to a plate and serve!
Jamaican week sides for Jerk fish!
To serve with your Jerk fish, two fabulous sides! Jamaican Slaw (shockingly delicious) and Jamaican Coconut Rice and Peas. And to complete your Jamaican feast, rum and raisin ice cream without an ice cream maker! This is one of those recipes I deem to be something money-can’t-buy because it has real rum flavour that you just won’t get in tubs from the shops.
This is a spread of seriously good food. I hope you enjoy Jamaican week as much as I have creating the recipes!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Jamaican Jerk Fish
Ingredients
Jerk seasoning (Note 1):
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 3 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (reduce to 1 1/2 tsp for table salt)
- 3 tsp dried thyme
- 2 1/2 tsp brown sugar , lightly packed (Note 2)
- 2 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (it's spicy! See SPICE NOTE)
- 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (sub ordinary paprika)
- 1 1/4 tsp allspice powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
Fish:
- 4 x 160g/6 oz thin snapper or other white fish fillets , skinless, boneless (up to 1.5cm / 0.6″ thick, Note 3)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Jerk Spice Blend – Mix the Jerk Seasoning spices together in a bowl then spread in a small tray that is just large enough to fit one fish fillet.
- Coat fish – Pat fish dry with a paper towel. Then coat both sides of each fillet with the jerk seasoning, pressing to adhere. Shake off excess, place on a clean plate and coat remaining fish.
- Cook fish – Heat half the oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. When you see small wisps of smoke, place 2 fillets presentation side down and cook for 2 minutes.
- Flip – the spice crust should be a deep bronze colour with a reddish tinge. Cook the other side for 1 minute until the target internal temperature is 55°C/130°F, or the fish flakes easily at the thickest point.
- Rest on a rack for 2 minutes (to preserve crispy spice crust). Then serve! Recipes for pictured Jamaican sides coming on Tuesday – stay tuned!
Recipe Notes:
- Garlic powder – more onion powder, and vice versa
- Dried thyme – oregano
- Brown sugar – 1 3/4 tsp caster sugar / superfine sugar
- Cayenne pepper – Pure ground chilli, red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper or omit if you want not spicy
- Smoked paprika – ordinary paprika
- Allspice powder – Mixed spice
- Cinnamon powder – Try not to leave this out! It adds an irreplaceable special touch.
- Nutmeg powder – More cinnamon
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Jamaican Dozer. Ya mon!
PS It’s totally photoshopped. Just couldn’t find a Jamaican dog costume, strangely. 😂
Yum great recipe, pairs well with the other Jamaican recipes
This was a fantastic and quick recipe! I made a little bit extra jerk seasoning. I mixed it with bbq sauce, a bit of honey and some apple cider vinegar for a finishing jerk sauce that added a sweet heat and tangy-ness to the fish.
Made the jerk fish for lunch today. Yummm! Prep and cook time so quick.
I drizzled lime juice over the fish and that stepped the flavour up even more.
Awesome!
Packed the spice mix in ziplock bag, and took it on a camper van holiday around Tasmania,
(Did the same with your chicken shawarma and Buttery seasoned rice spice mixes)
I made the Jerk spice mix with slightly reduced cayenne so that we could be sure it wasn’t too hot for our taste, and we loved it.
Fast, fuss-free dinners in minutes that tasted like they were from a restaurant.
Thank you
Nagi , another triumph!!!!
Made the whole feast … Slaw & rice … Used chicken thigh instead of fish , the whole thing was so so tasty… Will definitely cook again , so easy to do … Loving yr book by the way
I used the spice mix for chicken thighs and baked them. I used only a pinch of cayenne because I was serving it to kids. Everyone loved it and said that it tasted like a restaurant meal. We served it with the rice and peas and slaw. So flavourful.
Love it. Followed recipe and unlike some other reviewers I didn’t find it too salty or spicy, it was Goldie Locks just right. No left overs …
Love it. Followed recipe and unlike some other reviewers I didn’t find it too salty or spicy, it was Goldie Locks just right. No left overs …
Have used this several times and it works really well for me. As I take heart medication I halved the salt and based on some comments that is a good idea. I like the heat so the cayenne was fine by me.
Approached with some trepidation given the mixed reviews but hubby and I loved it! Used for fresh barra gifted to us from a friend and expect to make jerk fish again and again and again. Have sent recipe to all (adult) kids – we are a seafood loving family. Thank you Nargi!
Loving your inspiration and recipes and wondering about your side dishes. Do You have a few recipes for “side dishes” those of us who haven’t been in the kitchen for far too long ??
Made this jerk fish last night. Followed in recipe 100%. I am a salt monster. I love salt but this recipe is bitter salty- not eatible. The color of the fish turned out beautiful but tasted so bad. Nonetheless still a big fan of Nagi!
I’m not tasting what the other reviewers are tasting – this was spicy but not pleasant to my palate. It turned out kind of bitter tasting to my palate. The fish was definitely not overcooked but also wasn’t crispy so not sure where I went wrong. Despite this I remain a huge Nagi fan as every other Tin Eats recipe I’ve tasted is five star for me and Tin Eats is my no 1 go to site for all recipes.
So good! I’m still chewing and I had to write this. I usually make a wet jerk marinade and it’s delicious but not fast. I made this run true to recipe and used it in chicken thighs- it was great but a little too spicy. I swapped the amounts of cayenne and paprika the second time (I think I have industrial grade cayenne 😂) and was a little liberal with the thyme and allspice. I also use diamond kosher salt and doubled the amount. I made it for lunch using think pollock filets and it was absolutely delicious. Had it on a toasted French roll with some crunchy lettuce and kewpie Mayo..: thought I made enough for lunch tomorrow.but I’ve nearly finished it all already!
We love spicy food but 2.5 tsp of cayenne seemed like a lot. We cut it back to 1.5 and it was still extremely spicy. Do you have a different cayenne in Australia? (We’re in North America)
Husband made this meal last night and was delish. Found the fish spice very salty. Would reduce next time and definitely have the whole meal again.
Made the whole meal (fish, slaw, beans and rice and ice cream). The fish was a little spicy, but it balanced so well with the slaw. Just delicious. And since the ice cream and the slaw could be pre-made it was very relaxing cooking all dishes for one fantastic Sunday night meal. Thank you!
I think cayenne can vary, mine is very spicy too. I ended up swapping the amounts of paprika and cayenne the second time I made it and it was perfect. Still spicy but not crazy.
Oops! Forgot to rate… 5 stars!
Tried this out with some cod. Delicious! My 13 year old is trying new things these days and he loves it. Not too spicy even for him – so if you like spice, I’d suggest upping the cayenne.
We found this way too salty unfortunately! Used 3 basa fillets and only used about half the spice mix. I reduced the cayenne to 1/2 teaspoon as my partner is not a huge fan of spice. The flavours were amazing but just way too salty.