One of my favorite dishes to prepare is Escovitch Fish. I remember when I was younger and my grandmother would fix this for dinner on Saturdays. I helped to prepare in cleaning and seasoning the fish but left the final preparations to her because I was always afraid of frying it too much. Now I look forward to preparing for my family.

What is Escovitch?

“Escovitch” is a Jamaican term and is the way of cooking whereby fish is usually fried and then soaked literally with a pickling sauce made from vinegar, pimento, onions, pepper and carrots.

Escovitch Fish

Prep Time: 25 Mins
Cook Time: 1 Hrs
Ready In: 1 Hrs
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

5 lbs snapper, king fish or any white fish
1 large lemon
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp black pepper
1 large sliced onion
1/2 green bell pepper sliced
1/2 orange bell pepper sliced
1 large carrot – cut in thin long slices
2 tbsp oil
2 cups oil
2 Scotch bonnet peppers, sliced and seeds removed (optional)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup white vinegar

Preparation Instructions:

Clean fish (remove the inside and scale) rinse with lemon juice
1. You can opt to leave fish whole or cut into 2-3 steaks if the fish is larger.
2. Pat fish dry with paper towel (cut both sides of the fish, not too deep)
3. Mix salt and black pepper
4. Rub the inside and outside of the fish with salt and black pepper
5. Pour oil in frying pan over medium to high heat
6. Add garlic to the hot oil
7. Add 2-3 fishes (or sliced steaks) to the pan at a time, fry for 5-10 minutes on each side
8. Drain fish on paper towel then put fish in a large shallow dish
9. Put a sauce pan on medium heat, add 2 tbsp oil (make sure sauce pan has a cover)
10. Add pepper, carrot and onion to the oil, stir for a minute, then add vinegar and cover the sauce pan for 3-5 minutes
11. Pour over fish, after 10 minutes serve
12. Serve with salad, rice, steam vegetables or with bread.