Plate 07 of 10

Bahamian Boiled Fish

Name: Bahamian Boiled Fish
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: The Bahamas
Ingredients: 800 g Grouper steaks, skin on, 3 cm thick; 1.5 L Water; 10 g Fine salt; 600 g Potatoes, peeled, in 4 cm chunks; 1 medium Onion, sliced; 2 stalks Celery, in 3 cm pieces; 8 Allspice berries; 120 ml Fresh lime juice; 1 Goat pepper, whole

The island breakfast, a clear and sour fish broth. Potatoes, onion, celery and allspice simmered in salted water until nearly tender, then thick grouper steaks poached in it without a hard boil so they stay whole, until they flake at 63 °C. Lime juice goes in off the heat, tasted for the clean sourness the dish is known for. Grits or johnny cake beside.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A bowl of clear broth with two skin-on grouper steaks, potato chunks, celery, onion and allspice berries, with a johnny cake and a dish of grits beside it.

Boiled fish and grits is what the Bahamas eats for breakfast on the weekend. Thick grouper steaks poach in a broth of onion, celery, allspice and potatoes, and the pot is finished with lime until it is sharp and clean. It is the fish version of souse, and it does the same work the morning after Junkanoo.

It is served with grits or johnny cake, and a goat pepper on the side for those who want the broth to bite back.

Ingredients

800 gGrouper steaks, skin on, 3 cm thick
1.5 LWater
10 gFine salt
600 gPotatoes, peeled, in 4 cm chunks
1 mediumOnion, sliced
2 stalksCelery, in 3 cm pieces
8Allspice berries
120 mlFresh lime juice
1Goat pepper, whole

Steaks, not fillets

Bone-in steaks hold together in the broth and give it body. A fillet poaches faster and falls apart; if that is what you have, add it for the last 6 minutes only.

Sour on purpose

The lime goes in last and it goes in generously. Boiled fish should taste clean and sharp, which is why it is the morning dish and the cure for the night before.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is in the water. Fat is only the fish's own. Acid is lime, the signature. Heat is the goat pepper, whole on the side. Umami is fish on the bone and allspice.

Equipment

5-quart pot
Slotted spoon
Instant-read thermometer

Nothing more. A wide pot lets the steaks lie flat without stacking.

Method

Start the broth15 min
Bring the water and salt to a boil in the pot with the potatoes, onion, celery and allspice. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are nearly tender.
Bring 1.5 L water, salt, potatoes, onion, celery and allspice to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 12–15 minutes until potatoes are nearly tender.
Poach the fish12 min
Lower the heat so the broth barely moves. Slide in the grouper steaks and poach 10 to 12 minutes, without boiling, until the flesh flakes from the bone and reads 63 °C.
Reduce heat until broth barely moves. Add grouper steaks and poach without boiling 10–12 minutes until flesh flakes from the bone at 63 °C. If substituting fillets, add only for the final 6 minutes and check doneness.
Lime2 min
Off the heat, add the lime juice. Taste: it should be distinctly sour and clean. Add more lime or salt as needed.
Remove from heat before adding the lime juice. Taste for a distinctly sour, clean broth; adjust with more lime or salt as needed.
Serve
A steak, potatoes and plenty of broth in each bowl, over grits or with johnny cake, and the goat pepper on the side to press into the bowl.
Serve each bowl with a fish steak, potatoes and plenty of broth, over grits or beside johnny cake. Offer the whole goat pepper alongside for pressing into individual bowls.
05
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a clear broth; fish flesh opaque and separating along its lines; potatoes soft-edged.
- Auditory: the faintest tremble in the pot while the fish is in.
- Olfactory: allspice and celery, then lime as it is poured.
Check for clear broth, opaque fish that separates in flakes and soft-edged potatoes. The liquid should barely tremble while poaching; expect allspice, celery and fresh lime aromas.

Storing it

Keeps 2 days refrigerated. Reheat gently to a simmer, 74 °C through, and add a fresh squeeze of lime; the fish softens on the second day.

Troubleshooting

Fish broke apart.: The broth boiled. Poach at a tremble and lift the steaks out with a slotted spoon.
Broth too sour.: Lime added in one pour. Half first, taste, then more.
Bland.: Under-salted water. Salt the broth before the fish goes in; it cannot be seasoned properly afterwards.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Grouper steaks	Snapper steaks, or a whole small fish in pieces	Poach the same way; a whole fish takes 15 minutes
Potatoes	Green banana or sweet potato	Green banana holds better; sweet potato goes in 5 minutes later
Goat pepper	Scotch bonnet or habanero	Kept whole the same way

Scaling

Half

A 3-quart pot with 750 ml water; the same timings.

Double

A wide 8-quart pot so the steaks lie flat; poach in two rounds if they do not.

What to serve it with

Grits, the breakfast way
Johnny cake, split and buttered
Strong coffee, or a cold Kalik on a Saturday

Questions

Is it a breakfast dish?

The classic Bahamian breakfast, with grits, especially on Saturday and Sunday.

Why grouper?

It is the fish of the Bahama Banks and it holds together in a broth. Snapper is the usual second choice.

How is it different from souse?

The same sour, allspice broth with fish instead of chicken and no long simmer. The two are cousins.