Fish tea

Ingredients

Broth

• 500 gsmall whole fish, or fish heads and frames
• 2 litreswater
• 1onion
• 4 sprigsthyme
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 2limes, for cleaning

Vegetables

• 2green bananas, peeled and cut
• 2yellow yams or 1 dasheen, cubed
• 2cho-cho, cubed
• 2carrots, sliced
• 4spring onions

Seasoning

• 1whole scotch bonnet
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 2 tbspfish seasoning or 1 stock cube
• salt

Spinners

• 150 gplain flour
• ½ tspsalt
• water

Directions

1. Clean the fish thoroughly, scaling and gutting it, and rinse it with lime and cold water.
2. Simmer the fish in the water with the onion, thyme and garlic for 20 minutes.
3. Strain the broth through a sieve, pressing the fish to get everything out of it, then discard the bones and skin.
4. Straining is what makes it a tea rather than a stew. The finished bowl should be a thin clear broth you can drink from a cup, with no bones in it at all.
5. Return the broth to the pot and add the green banana, yam, cho-cho and carrot.
6. Peel the green bananas under running water with a little oil on your hands, because the sap stains badly and is very hard to get off afterwards.
7. Make the spinners by mixing the flour and salt with just enough water for a firm dough, then rolling small pieces between your palms into thin twisted spindles.
8. Add the spinners and simmer everything for 20 minutes, until the tubers are tender.
9. Drop in the whole scotch bonnet for the last 10 minutes and lift it out before serving.
10. Never break the pepper in the pot. Whole it perfumes the broth; broken it makes the entire batch undrinkable for most of the table.
11. Season with black pepper and salt.
12. Serve hot in cups or mugs with lime and pepper sauce on the side.
13. It is sold on Friday nights and treated as strengthening, which is a large part of why people drink it.

Technique

• It is drunk from a cup rather than eaten from a bowl, which is why the broth must be genuinely thin and clear.
• Fishing communities make it from whatever is too small to sell, which is what it was built for.
• Fish heads give far more body than fillets. Ask the fishmonger for the frames.

Substitutions

• Any small white fish, or a mixture of heads and trimmings.
• Potato and pumpkin if yam and cho-cho are unavailable.

Variations

• With crab or shrimp added at the end.
• Made thicker, with more ground provisions, as a fuller soup.
• With a splash of white rum, which some cooks add.

History

Fishing communities boil small fish, tubers and scotch bonnet into a thin soup; it is sold on Friday nights and considered strengthening.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fish tea?

Fish tea is a soup & stew from Jamaica: peppery clear fish broth drunk from a cup as a restorative. Fishing communities boil small fish, tubers and scotch bonnet into a thin soup; it is sold on Friday nights and considered strengthening.

How long does Fish tea take to make?

Fish tea takes 30 min of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Fish tea?

Yes, within limits. Any small white fish, or a mixture of heads and trimmings. Potato and pumpkin if yam and cho-cho are unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fish tea?

Straining is what makes it a tea rather than a stew. The finished bowl should be a thin clear broth you can drink from a cup, with no bones in it at all.