Simple Saltfish Buljol Recipe

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Salted fish has an awful past in the Caribbean. It was actually used as a fertilizer on plantations during the time of slavery before it was assigned as food for the indigenous and African slaves.

Salt fish was believed to be a low quality food that lacked nutrition but the slaves were able to turn it into a highly nutritious, delicious meal.

That’s where saltfish buljol originated. It is a simple salad of sorts made with fresh or sauteed veggies, herbs, and shredded salted fish. The fish is usually boiled and drained to remove the excess salt.

The entire dish is often served for breakfast with coconut bake or bread in T&T.

If you are interested in the food assigned during the times of slavery, check out page 265 of the book: The Amelioration and Abolition of Slavery in Trinidad.

saltfish buljol recipe: salted cod, boiled, shredded and mixed with veggies and herbs

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Ingredients for saltfish buljol

Saltfish buljol can be made with any leftover veggies in the fridge and can be adjusted based on your favorites. Here’s what I had on hand for this recipe.

  • saltfish: any fish cured with excessive amounts of salt can be used for this recipe. Salted cod, pollock and other fish are commonly found in supermarkets. You can also find saltfish on Amazon.
  • water: needed for boiling the fish to remove excess salt.
  • onion: adds a wonderful sharp element to the buljol. This can be used raw or sauteed with oil and other aromatics like garlic.
  • pepper: fresh peppers like pimento and scotch bonnets can be used here or substitute with a little black pepper or paprika.
  • vegetables: any veggie can be used for making the buljol. Here I am using tomatoes, cabbage, and cucumber but you can also add chopped bell peppers and thinly grated carrots.
  • fresh herbs: Caribbean herbs like chadon beni or culantro and cilantro add fresh, herbaceous flavor to the buljol.
  • salt and pepper: after boiling the fish and mixing in the veggies, you may need to add more salt and pepper. Adjust to your taste preferences.
  • oil: any vegetable oil will do.
  • lemon or lime juice (optional): helps to remove any fishy smell or taste, if there is any.
  • avocado (optional): this adds healthy fats to the buljol that already has protein from the fish and good nutrition from the veggies.

How to make saltfish buljol recipe

1. Boil the saltfish

Place a small pot on medium heat with water. Bring to a rolling boil.

Rinse the saltfish a couple times before adding to the boiling water. Leave to boil for 10 to 15 minutes. The point of boiling is to remove the excess salt from the fish so it is palatable. With some brands, you don’t need a long boil time but, for the ones bought in the farmers’ market, it’ll take longer to get the salt out.

boil saltfish to reduce the salt in the protein

2. Shred the fish

Drain the water. You can do a quick taste test to check if the fish is no longer overly salty. If it is still too salty, boil the fish again with water for another 10 minutes.

If the fish has the right salt level, then remove its skin and bones, if there are any. Shred the fish with a fork and set aside.

shredded saltfish on plate

3. Prep the other ingredients

Wash and finely chop the vegetables and herbs you plan on using for this recipe.

vegetables added to buljol

4. Decide on raw vs cooked

Once the ingredients are prepped, you can make buljol in one of two ways: (1) raw or (2) cooked.

For the raw method, mix the shredded fish with the raw veggies, herbs, and optional ingredients (like lime juice and avocado) and serve cold. The cooked method involves sautéing the veggies before mixing in the fish and optional ingredients.

I’ll explain the cooked method here: place a small saucepan on the stove on medium heat. Add vegetable oil and allow to heat up. Add the shredded fish, chopped onions and pepper. Leave for about 2 minutes for the onions to become translucent.

shredded saltfish added to onions to saute

Add the vegetables like cabbage, tomatoes and herbs. Allow to cook for another 2 minutes.

add the veggies to sauteed saltfish and seasoning

Turn off the heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Mix in the optional ingredients, if you are using them. Here I added cucumber, avocado pieces and lemon juice. Serve warm or cool with coconut bake, sada roti, hops bread, or fry bake.

mixed veggies with shredded saltfish

More fish recipes

Saltfish buljol recipe

saltfish buljol featured image
Print Recipe

Saltfish buljol

This humble side dish is made with vegetables, herbs and shredded salted fish, that has been boiled to remove excess salt. It is a great filling for sandwiches enjoyed especially for breakfast and dinner.
Prep Time8 minutes
Cook Time19 minutes
Total Time27 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Caribbean
Keyword: saltfish buljol
Servings: 2
Calories: 265kcal
Author: Ros Singh

Ingredients

  • 150 grams salted fish (like cod)
  • 1 liter water (for boiling)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 pimento (or any pepper)
  • 1/2 cup tomatoes (about 2 tomatoes)
  • 1/2 cup cabbage, shredded (1/4 small cabbage)
  • 1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 tbsp fresh chadon beni (culantro) leaves
  • 1 tbsp oil (for cooked method only)
  • 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice (optional)
  • 1/2 cup cucumber (1/2 a cucumber) (optional)
  • 1/2 cup avocado (1/2 small avocado) (optional)
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Add a small pot on the stove on medium heat.
  • Pour in the water. Bring to a boil.
  • Rinse the salted fish.
  • Add to the boiling water.
  • Leave to boil for 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Strain.
  • Taste test the fish. If it is still too salty, repeat the first 6 steps with clean water.
  • If the fish is enjoyable, remove the skin and bones, if any.
  • Shred the fish and set aside.
  • Wash and finely chop the onion, pimento, tomatoes, cabbage, cilantro and chadon beni. Prep any optional ingredients like cucumber and avocado.

Raw method

  • Mix the chopped ingredients and shredded fish together.
  • Adjust salt, pepper and citrus juice to taste.
  • Serve cold as a side.

Cooked method

  • Place a small saucepan on medium heat. Add vegetable oil.
  • Toss in the shredded fish, chopped onions and pepper.
  • Cook for 2 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
  • Mix in the tomatoes, cabbage, cilantro and chadon beni.
  • Cook for another 2 minutes.
  • Turn off the heat. Cool for 5 minutes or so.
  • Add the optional ingredients like cucumber, avocado and citrus juice.
  • Mix. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
  • Serve warm as a side.

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I’m a Trinidad-born and based food blogger exploring Trini cuisine and enjoying my cooking journey on WeTriniFood.com. I try to document consistent, reproducible recipes with my family where "a little bit" and "a handful" are measurement units. But that's the fun of Trini cooking - there are no hard and fast rules and everything can be adjusted to your taste. Follow me on Tiktok, Instagram, and Pinterest @wetrinifood.

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