Recipe courtesy of JJ Johnson

Jerk Red Snapper

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 45 min
  • Active: 30 min
  • Yield: 4 servings
This is a riff on my great-aunt's jerk recipe. You can use it as a marinade if you want to, but I like to just drizzle it over my red snapper. The sauce has this sweet, spicy allspice tingle, and the best part is, if you put it in a nice, airtight container in the fridge, it'll last forever.

Ingredients

Jerk Sauce

Fish

Directions

  1. For the jerk sauce: Peel and roughly chop the ginger. Add it to a blender, along with soy sauce, allspice, pepper, palm sugar, thyme, habanero, garlic, scallions, and salt. Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
  2. Cook the fish: Heat a dry cast iron skillet over high heat to smoking. Place the fish on a flat surface, skin side up, and score it diagonally to ensure even cooking. Trim the fish by removing the very end of the tail and then cutting along the inseam, separating the belly meat and the center cut. Slice both pieces into 2-ounce portions. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oil to the hot pan, followed by the snapper, skin side down. Lightly press the fish so that it lays flat in the pan. After 2 minutes, turn the fish and cook another 2 minutes. Remove to a platter. Place a spoonful of jerk sauce under each piece, plus more on top, and serve.