Serves 4 · Prep 25 min · Cook 20 min
This is a Saturday morning classic in Guyanese and Caribbean homes. Flaked smoked fish is tossed with fresh tomato, onion, pepper and a splash of oil, then stuffed into warm, puffy fried bakes. It's smoky, salty and fresh all at once, and best with a hot cup of tea.
Ingredients
For the buljol
- 1 lb / 450 g Smoked Fish (half a 2 lb pack), thawed
- 1 medium tomato, finely diced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 wiri wiri pepper, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp chopped eschallot (scallion)
- 1 tbsp chopped shado beni (culantro) or cilantro
- 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- Black pepper, to taste
For the fried bake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp butter, cold
- ¾ cup water, approximately
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
- Thaw and soak. Thaw the smoked fish in the fridge (0–4 °C) overnight. Put it in a bowl, cover with just-boiled water and leave for 10 minutes to soften it and draw out some of the salt. Drain.
- Flake. Once it's cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and flake the flesh into small shreds. Taste a piece. If it's still very salty, soak it once more in fresh hot water for 5 minutes.
- Make the buljol. Toss the fish with the tomato, onion, bell pepper, wiri wiri pepper, garlic, eschallot and shado beni. Add the oil and lime juice, season with black pepper, and mix. Set aside while you make the bakes.
- Make the dough. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Rub in the butter, then add water gradually until you have a soft, smooth dough. Knead for 2 minutes, cover and rest for 10 minutes.
- Shape. Divide into 8 balls and flatten each into a round about 1 cm thick.
- Fry. Heat 2 cm of oil over medium heat. Fry the bakes for 2–3 minutes a side until puffed and golden. Drain on a rack.
- Serve. Split the warm bakes open and fill them with buljol, or serve the buljol in a bowl alongside for everyone to help themselves.
Cook's note: Buljol also goes well with sliced avocado, boiled eggs or hard-dough bread instead of bake.
