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1
Wash, Score & Season the Fish
15 Mins
Cold rinse, about 20°C (68°F)
Rub the lime juice over the cleaned snapper, rinse briefly and pat the fish very dry inside and out with paper towels. Score 3 shallow diagonal cuts on each side, cutting just through the skin into the flesh. Rub half the salt, the black pepper and the thyme sprigs into the scores and the cavity, then leave the fish to rest for 10 minutes while you slice the vegetables.
Shallow scores only: cut too deep and the fish falls apart in the oil.
Done when: Dry skin, seasoning worked into every score.
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2
Dust & Fry Until Crisp
16 Mins
Oil at 175–180°C (350°F)
Heat the oil in a wide, deep pan until it shimmers and a pinch of cornstarch sizzles at once. Dust each fish lightly all over with cornstarch, shaking off the excess, and lay it gently into the oil away from you. Fry for about 8 minutes on the first side without moving it, then turn once with tongs and fry 8 minutes more until the skin is deep golden and crisp.
Do not crowd the pan and do not turn the fish early: the crust sets in the first minutes, and moving it tears the skin.
Done when: Deep golden, crisp skin; flesh at the thickest part flakes easily and reaches 63°C (145°F).
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3
Drain & Keep the Fish Crisp
1 Min
Hot fish, draining at room temperature
Lift the fish out with tongs and a fish slice, letting the oil drip back into the pan, and set it on a wire rack over a tray — never on paper towels, which steam the crust soft. Keep the rack warm while you make the pickle.
A wire rack is not optional here: the whole point of escovitch is crisp fish under a wet pickle, and a flat plate kills the crunch.
Done when: Fish draining freely, skin still crackling.
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4
Simmer the Hot Escovitch Pickle
8 Mins
Simmering, about 100°C (212°F)
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan. Add the onion, carrot, both peppers, garlic, Scotch bonnet and pimento, and cook for 2 minutes until they just start to soften. Pour in the vinegar and water, add the sugar and the remaining salt, and simmer for 5 minutes more. The vegetables should stay bright and crunchy, and the liquid should taste sharply sour with a warm allspice hum.
Taste the liquid before you pour: it should make you pucker slightly. If it is flat, add a splash more vinegar, not more sugar.
Done when: Vegetables still crisp and bright; liquid sharply sour and fragrant.
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5
Pour Over & Serve at Once
5 Mins Rest
Serve hot, fish above 63°C (145°F)
Set the fried fish on a warm platter, spoon the hot pickle vegetables over the top and ladle over some of the vinegar liquid. Rest for 5 minutes so the pickle soaks into the crust, then serve at once with festival, bammy or rice. The fish is at its best within 30 minutes, while the skin still has crunch against the sour pickle.
Pour the pickle over the fish, never the fish into the pickle: drowning it in liquid turns the crust soggy in minutes.
Done when: Hot fish with a crisp edge under a glossy, vinegary topping.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the fish whole on a platter, pickle piled on top, with the extra vinegar liquid in a small jug so everyone can spoon over more. Eat it while the skin is still crisp — escovitch is a dish of contrasts, and the crunch against the sour pickle is the point.
Jamaica
55m
