from Soup Season
What would Sunday lunch (the biggest meal of the week on the islands) be without a healthy serving of Callaloo, Rice, Stewed (or baked) Chicken, Macaroni Pie, Salad and boiled Plantain? Not to be confused with Jamaican callaloo (amaranth or what we call Chorai Bhagi). The main ingredient in our callaloo is the tender baby leaves of the Dasheen or Taro plant (also called dasheen bush), okra, coconut milk and traditionally, ocean crabs. Living in North America means there are times when we must find substitutes for traditional ingredients used in many of our dishes as it’s hard to source the ingredients normally used.
Though the recipe I’m about to share with you is not the traditional way of making callaloo, you’ll find that it’s very tasty, similar in texture and appearance to the real deal.
Ingredients
2 large crabs (split into 4 pieces each)
1 lime or lemon
1 tablespoon Caribbean Green seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves garlic (smashed)
1 medium onion sliced
3 sprigs of thyme
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup diced pumpkin
1 cup diced sweet potato (optional)
3 cups coconut milk
8-10 cups water
2 lbs spinach (baby leaves work best)
1 lb okra
1 teaspoon salt
1 green habanero or scotch bonnet pepper
1 teaspoon GoldenRay butter (optional)
Notes
Before we get to the actual steps in making the callaloo I must mention that if you can’t source (like me) tender dasheen leaves, it’s important that you use ordinary spinach leaves, but ensure they are baby spinach. Not only is it tender, but it’s not as strong in flavour as regular spinach. Regular spinach may overpower the dish, and you won’t achieve that well-rounded taste that a good callaloo will have. I must also mention that crab meat or imitation crab will NOT give it the true unique flavor as would actual crab in the shell.
Directions
Wash (with the juice of a lime and cool water) and clean the crab, then mix with the Caribbean Green Seasoning and set aside.
Heat the olive oil on a medium flame in your soup pot, then add the onion, garlic, thyme, black pepper, pumpkin and sweet potato. Traditionally everything is simply placed in the pot all at once and boiled. However, experience begs that we quickly sauté the ingredients to start, to pull out additional flavor boiling alone cannot deliver.
After 4 minutes add the coconut milk, water, salt, okra and spinach. Bring to a boil. Float the pepper WHOLE and try your best to NOT BREAK IT.
Cover the pot (slightly ajar), bring the heat down to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for about 1 hour or until everything is tender and starts to fall apart. Be sure to stir every 15 minutes or so and check to ensure that it’s not sticking at the bottom of the pot. This will be an indication that your heat is too high.
It’s time to add the crab to the pot. After you’ve added the seasoned crab (seasoning is optional) allow the callaloo to cook for another 15 minutes.
The final step is to break everything down. Remove the crab pieces and return them back to the pot after you’ve done with this step. Luckily enough I have a swizzle stick (wooden one), however you can also use either a whisk or stick blenders. If you are using an electric one, I suggest you pulse a few times and not use a continuous action or it will make the callaloo very frothy and it can harm the finished product.
If you’re using a whisk, simply whisk until everything is broken down into a soup-like consistency. Before you whisk you can remove the pepper (remember I mentioned to put it in whole – discard) if you’re worried about the heat content. I always break mine as I like the slight heat from the green pepper (not fully mature)
The very final step is to add the GoldenRay butter, stir it around and turn off the heat. Add the crab meet and enjoy!
Notes: May I recommend you NOT adjust the salt until you’ve added the butter as it’s a heavily salted butter.
The final consistency is up to you as there are times I enjoy it a bit chunky, while other times I break it down completely and treat it as a comforting soup.
Tip: From the recipe above you should have enough left over to freeze and enjoy at a later time. Store in freezer style bowls and it usually lasts a couple months in the freezer. To thaw, all you have to do is empty the contents of the bowl into a pot with a couple tablespoons of water on very low heat and allow it to heat/melt. Or stick in the microwave.
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: Once you get this recipe down pat, substitute some of the veggies and adjust seasonings to suit your taste. Check out Caribbean stores or the international aisle at the local supermarket for the Caribbean green seasoning. Want to make your own? There’s a recipe in the book as well as at Caribbean Pot: https://caribbeanpot.com/caribbean-green-seasoning/
Contents and images used with permission by Caribbean Pot. https://caribbeanpot.com/cookbook/