Cooking
egg recipes the Jamaican way.
Jamaican eggs in the shell
should not be cooked in boiling water. When Jamaican eggs are hard-cooked in
boiling water they tend to become tough and leathery, while soft-cooked Jamaican
eggs are unevenly cooked. These are tips on how to cook Jamaican eggs in the
shell as a Jamaican recipe. As Jamaican eggs used in Jamaican recipes are
toughened by extreme heat they should be cooked at a relatively low temperature.
Place all Jamaican egg dishes in a pan of water when baking to prevent
over-heating of the egg mixture. Jamaican Egg sauce recipes should be cooked
over hot boiling water.
Tip 1
– Place Jamaican eggs in saucepan, cover with cold water and heat slowly to
boiling. For soft cooked Jamaican eggs remove when water starts to boil, while
for hard-cooked Jamaican eggs reduce the heat and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.
Tip 2
– Heat to an extreme boil enough water to cover the Jamaican eggs by at least 1
inch deep. Lower the Jamaican eggs in the water and then remove the pan from off
the heat. For soft-cooked Jamaican eggs allow the Jamaican eggs to remain in the
water for 12 – 15 minutes and for hard cooked Jamaican eggs allow the Jamaican
eggs to remain in the water for 22 – 25 minutes.
Tip 3
– Pour hot water into both parts of a double boiler. When water in the lower
part boils place Jamaican eggs in top. When cooked in this method the
temperature cannot reach the boiling point and Jamaican eggs are cooked evenly.
For the Jamaican recipe for soft cooked Jamaican eggs cook in this fashion for
12 – 15 minutes and for the Jamaican recipe for hard cooked Jamaican eggs cook
25 – 30 minutes.
Tip 4
– To hard-cook egg yolks drop into simmering water and keep below boiling until
firm
Tip 5
– To divide an egg beat the egg slightly and measure with a tablespoon.
Tip 6
– To hold Jamaican eggs together while poaching add a few drops and vinegar or
lemon juice to the cooking water.
Tip 7
– To cut hard-cooking Jamaican eggs without breaking the yolk dip the knife into
water.
Tip 8
– To prevent meringue on Jamaican pie recipes from shrinking spread meringue on
filling so that it torches the sides of pastry all around the edge. Bake 10 to
15 minutes in an oven.
Tip 9
– To glaze top of rolls pastry, brush before baking with slightly beaten egg
white and 1 tablespoon milk or water, use whole egg for yellow glaze.
How to
handle Jamaican butter, shortening and fat recipes.
Using these the Jamaican
way are not too far from conventional ways used in other cuisine and cooking
practices.
Tip 10
– To cut butter cleanly cover the blade with waxed paper or heat in hot water.
Tip 11
– To measure less than 1 cup shortening pour cold water (the amount being the
difference between the amount of shortening called for in recipe and 1 cup) for
in a Jamaican recipe into measuring cup and add shortening until water reaches
the top of cup. For example, if ¼ cup shortening is desired, pour ¾ cup cold
water into cup, add shortening until water reaches top and pour off water before
using shortening.
Tip 12
– To clarify fat strain slightly cooled fat through several thickness of
cheesecloth to remove foreign materials. Put slices of raw potato in cooled fat;
heat slowly until slices are well browned. Strain again and store in covered
container in a cool place.
Tip 13
– To make Jamaican butter balls recipe scaled a pair of wooden butter paddles
and place in ice water about 1 hour. Measure butter by tablespoons to make balls
uniform in size. Have butter firm but not hard and roll lightly between paddles
with circular motion to form balls. Drop onto a chilled plate onto cracked ice
or ice water.
Tip 14
– To make Jamaican rolls recipe proceed as with the Jamaican butter balls recipe
however flatten balls into a cylindrical shape and chill.
Tip 15
– To make Jamaican curls recipe, have butter firm but not hard. Dip butter
curler into hot water each time. Begin at far end of pound print of butter, draw
curler lightly and quickly toward you to make a thin shaving which curls up, and
then chill.
Tip 16
– To make a Jamaican mold recipe scald butter molds, then place in ice water for
1 hour. Pack solidly with butter and level off top surface. Press out butter and
chill.
Tips on
Jamaican fish and Jamaican meat recipes
Tips 17
– To make a Jamaican fish recipe firm and the Jamaican meat white add
a small amount of lemon juice to the recipe while the fish is boiling down.
Tip 18
– To prevent the Jamaican fish recipe from having an unpleasant odor while
cooking, cover the fish with browned butter or lemon juice.
Tip 19
– To prevent Jamaican fish recipes such as the Jamaican Steamed Fish Recipe tie
the fish with cheesecloth and lower all into the boiling water.
Tip 20
– To flour or place powdered seasonings Jamaican meat and Jamaican poultry for
any Jamaican recipe that requires this use a bag and place the seasoning in it
and cut the Jamaican meat or Jamaican poultry into serving pieces place the
Jamaican meat in the bag and shake well. Remove and brush lightly to remove
excess then prepare to recipe specifications.
Tip 21
– To keep bacon from curling when preparing Jamaican bacon recipes, cut the ends
of the bacon before preparing or broil the bacon between racks.
Tip 22
– To keep bones on crown roasts from burning when preparing Jamaican meat
recipes place the Jamaican meat in the saucepan with the Jamaican meat down or
spear end the ends of the bones with Jamaican meat fat.
Tip 23
– When preparing Jamaican meat recipes that the Jamaican meat has been cut into
small pieces you can make a great recipe called a Jama-kebab Recipe which is
curried mutton, fried chicken bits and stewed beef on skewers along with
vegetables.
Tip 24
– When preparing Jamaican fish recipes that require baking fish such as Snapper
Fish, weighing from 2-4 pounds may be baked or roasted on heavy paper or foil,
the Jamaican Port Royal Roasted Fish Recipe is an example of this where the fish
is placed in foil paper and roasted in a Jamaican Jerk Grill Pan. The recipe
should be baked at 20-25 minutes per pound.
Tip 25
– Roasting for Jamaican meat recipes most Jamaican cooks and chefs prefer to use
a constant low temperature which will give better results than the older methods
used. By roasting the Jamaican meat you preserve the natural flavor and juices
in the Jamaican meat and prevent excessive shrinkage of the Jamaican meat. By
placing the Jamaican meat on a wire rack in a shallow pan large enough to hold
the Jamaican meat and place a wire rack in bottom to hold the Jamaican met up
out of the sauce or juices to allow the heat to penetrate evenly throughout the
Jamaican meat.
To learn more about
Jamaican cooking, cooking the Jamaican way and Jamaican recipes, download our
flagship e-cookbook
Jamaican Cooking Made Easy
Volume III. For the other tips and hints on how to cook
the Jamaican way visits the articles listed below.
Download Jamaican
Cooking Made Easy Third Edition
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