Antigua & Barbuda: Salted Fish, Chop Up & Ducana
Salted Codfish, sautéed veggies and yummy sweet potato dumplings from Antigua and Barbuda!
Y’allllll! This one was SO surprisingly delicious! I was super nervous when I decided to do the dish that kept popping up on my searches- salted fish. I’m not a huge fish lover, besides salmon, so I was really worried the dish would turn out super salty and fishy (‘cause, you know, the name haha…), but I figured, “What the heck, it can’t hurt to try it!” And it actually turned out so good! Along with the fish, I made a veggie mixture called “ chop up” and ducana, which is essentially a large sweet potato dumpling!
For the salted fish I used cod since I was able to find it in the seafood section of my local grocery store, but really any salted white fish would work! It came in a little wood box to so that was new and interesting lol… To prep the fish for cooking you have to soak it for 12+ hours to remove the salt. Heat onions, tomato and garlic over low medium heat and then add shredded fish and season with thyme. So simple yet SO flavorful and delicious and not even a hint too salty or fishy!
Traditionally chop up is made with eggplant and spinach, as well as whatever veggies are on hand, so I made mine with eggplant, spinach, sweet peppers and tomatoes. Sauté over medium heat and season with salt and pepper! Easy peasy and the perfect side for the salted fish!
Lastly, the ducana! This sweet potato dumpling has the strangest texture and was really dense, but was so tasty! It’s made of shredded sweet potato with flour, sugar, allspice and cinnamon. You could also add coconut and raisins, which I would add in the future as I think it would have made the dumpling slightly less dense and dry. Nevertheless, the ducana I made was still really good and balanced the more savory fish and veggies quite well. I tried to mix a bite of the ducana with every bite of salted fish and it was amazinggg!
Overall, this meal was really good and, while I still think Algeria’s chorba frik and bourek are my favorite so far, this comes in at a close second!