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Barbados Steamed Flying Fish

Flying Fish and Cou-Cou

The national dish of Barbados: flying fish fillets seasoned with Bajan seasoning and gently steamed in a buttery tomato and onion gravy, spooned over a mound of cornmeal-and-okra cou-cou.

  • Prep 25 min + 30 min seasoning
  • Cook 20 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Medium
Photo: FOX · Pexels
Served with: Bajan Cou-Cou ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the fish

For the gravy

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Season the fish. Wash the fillets in water with lime juice and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt, spread a little Bajan seasoning on the flesh side of each one and roll them up, skin side out. Let them sit 30 minutes.
  2. Start the gravy. Melt the butter in a wide pan and cook the onion, garlic and bell pepper 4 minutes until soft. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and thyme and cook 3 minutes.
  3. Simmer. Stir in the water, pepper sauce, salt and any leftover seasoning. Simmer 5 minutes.
  4. Steam the fish. Set the rolled fillets seam side down in the gravy, cover and steam over low heat 8–10 minutes until they turn white and firm.
  5. Serve. Shape the hot cou-cou in a buttered bowl, turn it onto each plate and spoon the fish and gravy alongside. Finish with parsley.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Photo coming soon
Barbados

Bajan Cou-Cou

Cou-Cou

Smooth cornmeal and okra turned with a wooden cou-cou stick until it holds its shape. Paired with steamed flying fish, it is the national dish of Barbados.

  • Prep 10 min
  • Cook 25 min
  • Serves 4
  • Level Medium

You need

  • 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1½ cups cold water (to soak the cornmeal)
  • 8 okra, thinly sliced
  • 2½ cups water (for the okra)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp butter, plus more for the bowl

How to make it

  1. Soak the cornmeal. Stir the cornmeal into the 1½ cups cold water and leave it while you cook the okra. This keeps it from lumping.
  2. Cook the okra. Boil the okra in the 2½ cups salted water for 8–10 minutes until tender. Scoop out the okra and pour off about half the liquid into a cup.
  3. Turn the cou-cou. Lower the heat, return the okra to the pot and pour in the soaked cornmeal, stirring hard with a wooden spoon. Keep turning for 8–10 minutes, adding okra liquid a little at a time, until it is smooth, thick and pulls away from the sides.
  4. Shape. Stir in the butter. Spoon into a buttered bowl, turn it out onto a plate as a smooth mound and serve hot.

More ways to cook Flying Fish

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Oistins, BarbadosFried Flying Fish Cutter
Scarborough, Tobago, Trinidad and TobagoTobago Stewed Flying Fish
Deshaies, GuadeloupeGrilled Flying Fish with Sauce Chien