Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
My first cooking tutorial video on YouTube was my "Oven Jerk Chicken" and although it was very popular, many of you guys requested that I share a jerk seasoning recipe that you can make at home from scratch. The pre-made jar seasoning nah dweet again! Unfortunately, I haven't taken full advantage of my trips to Jamaica and was unable to ask the locals at the popular hot spots for the recipes to share 🙁 so after some intense research, trial and error, and asking the Jamaicans that I know here, I present to you guys my homemade jerk seasoning recipe which, I believe, gives Walkerswood a run for their money!
8 scallion or very very large spring onions(approx. 300g when chopped)
4 large cloves of garlic
4 large sprigs of fresh thyme
Scotch bonnet peppers at least 4-6 (the more you put the hotter it will be!)
30 g fresh ginger
10 tbsp molasses sugar or to taste (I recommend Billington's)
5 tbsp sea salt or to taste
5 tbsp whole pimento (allspice) seeds
2 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup pickling vinegar
Cut the ends and tips off of your scallions and remove any dead or old looking bits. Chop them up into small chunks and put them in the blender.
Remove the skin from your garlic cloves and drop them into the blender.
Use a teaspoon to scrape the skin off of your ginger and drop into the blender.
Remove the stalk from the top of your scotch bonnet peppers and drop them into the blender. If you want to reduce some of the heat remember to remove the insides first.
Place the rest of your ingredients into the blender and blend until it forms a paste like consistency.
Pour into an airtight container or jar and store in the fridge.
If you want to get the flavour of the scotch bonnet peppers without as much heat, removing all the insides (seeds and pith) should get rid of most of it. However, do bare in mind that traditional jerk seasoning does have a kick and you can combat this by pairing it with a sweet sauce or even just ketchup.
I suggest adding 4-6 scotch bonnet peppers, but, depending on where you get your peppers they are not always that hot. If you feel like your seasoning doesn't have the 'kick' you expected just add more scotch bonnets. However, keep in mind that you can put in but you can't tek out!
This recipe will make approximately 750ml worth of seasoning, which should last you a little while and the vinegar and lemon juice should help preserve it as long as you store it in an air tight container in the fridge. The longer the seasoning has to 'mature' (as my dad likes to say) the better it will taste!
