Jerk snapper

Don't be put off by the long list of jerk sauce ingredients – most are common herbs and spices, and they're all whizzed together in a matter of seconds. You can also use this marinade for other seafood, meat and tofu.

Jerk snapper Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 thick pieces snapper fillet, about 200 g each
• olive oil, for pan–frying
• lime wedges, to serve

Jerk sauce

• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 spring onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 red capsicum, seeded and chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet or habanero chilli
• 1 orange, zest and juice
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 60 g molasses
• 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil
• 4 tbsp ground allspice
• 3 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 3 tsp salt
• 3 tsp paprika

Instructions

1. For the jerk sauce, place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Preheat the grill to high. Season the fish with a good pinch of salt. Heat a good drizzle of oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Cook the fish, skin-side down and without moving for 2 minutes or until the skin is golden and crisp. Turn and pour a couple of tablespoons of jerk sauce over the fish, then transfer to the grill and cook for a further 2 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Serve with lime wedges.

Note
• This makes more jerk sauce than you will need for this recipe, but it keeps well, refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 1 month. You can also try marinating chicken pieces in some of the sauce overnight, then cooking them on the chargrill for that traditional chicken Jerk chicken vibe.

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.