Jamaican fish tea: a light broth built from a whole fish and real root vegetables

The name is misleading. This is a full soup, not tea, and it starts the way good broths always do: simmering a whole fish, bones and all, until the water turns into something worth drinking on its own. From there it gets built back up with chayote, carrot, okra, and green banana, so what started as broth becomes a real meal.

A broth simmered from a whole fish carries collagen and minerals that fillet-only cooking leaves behind, alongside the protein and iodine fish is already known for. This is the kind of meal worth reaching for on a day your body is working hard, when something light but genuinely nourishing matters more than something heavy.

Skip any packaged "fish tea soup mix." Most carry nightshade seasoning you cannot verify. A clean blend of dried herbs and salt does the same job without the guesswork. Pimento berries, also called allspice, are a fruit and not a seed spice, so they stay in without issue. Black pepper and scotch bonnet come out.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 whole red snapper (about 2 pounds total), scaled and gutted
• 10 cups water
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 chayote (cho cho), chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 8 okra, chopped
• 3 to 4 green bananas, peeled and sliced
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
• A clean herb-and-salt seasoning blend, to taste
• Sea salt, to taste

Method

• Combine the fish, water, onion, scallion, garlic, and allspice berries in a large pot. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and the broth is fragrant.
• Remove the fish to a plate. Once cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and flake the meat, discarding the rest.
• Return the pot to a simmer. Add the chayote, carrot, okra, green banana, and thyme sprigs. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables and banana are tender.
• Return the flaked fish to the pot. Season with the herb-and-salt blend and additional salt to taste. Remove the thyme sprigs before serving.

*Adapted from thatgirlcookshealthy.com by Charla*