Do you agree that some of the nicest foods are made with simple and inexpensive ingredients? Well, Jamaican Run Down is one of these.
Run Down (also known as Run Dung) is made with well-seasoned coconut milk in which some type of fish is cooked.
The fish is usually salted cod or pickled mackerel but some people add fresh fish and others add vegetables to make it a vegan dish.
Traditionally, Run Down takes quite a long time to prepare and cook. This is because you first need to grate or cut up and process at least one dry coconut in order to extract the milk which is the main ingredient. This milk then needs to be boiled for quite a while until it reduces down to a thick and sweet sauce.
To make the rundown, you need to add spices, vegetables, pimento, onions, and the fish. The resulting dish is very satisfying and delicious. It is hard work though, but very labour and time-intensive.
Well, imagine our delight to find that Tropical Sun Foods actually stock and sell Coconut Run Down Sauce in a jar here in the UK!
The sauce is very close in taste to the ‘real’ thing cooked from scratch. It is much cheaper however than buying all the ingredients to make it. You can now actually have some Run Down with dumplings, bananas, or other food, in half an hour or less!
Here is how to make Jamaican Run Down using the ready-made sauce
Ingredients
250 g salt mackerel
1 jar Tropical Sun coconut rundown sauce (227g)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp scotch bonnet sauce or scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
Method
Wash and boil mackerel or salted fish to remove excess salt
Remove from hot water and soak in cold water for 5 minutes.
Remove from water and then remove skin and bones
Wash mackerel and break into bite-sized pieces and set aside
Scrape the contents of the rundown sauce into a small saucepan
Add mackerel, pepper, tomato, sugar and scotch bonnet pepper and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve hot
So this week we made a batch of the delicious Jamaican run down and we were in Caribbean cuisine heaven! It turned out beautifully and brought us back to the days when our grandmother would sit on the kitchen step with a bowl and grater, grating a whole lot of coconuts to make Run Down for the family.
This would take hours, but we would sit and wait because the smell was amazing and we knew that the taste would be even better.
Here’s what ours looked like. I wish you could taste it.
By experimenting with the coconut run down sauce from Tropical Sun Foods, we realize that it was a bit tangy due to the presence of vinegar. By adding a teaspoon of sugar, we actually reduced that tangy taste and the end result was perfect!
Don’t be surprised if you find some small black seeds in the sauce. It’s actually a spice called pimento which is traditionally used in the making of run down.
Thankfully, by using the sauce, you won’t need to go out and get all the ingredients needed to make Jamaican Run down from scratch.
Meal planning with Jamaican Run Down
Again we are linking with Katy Kicker and friends who share their amazing meal plans each week.
For us, life is getting back to normal and as we experimented with some foods this week, it is going to be a whole lot of Jamaican foods next week. We already have most things cooked and frozen, so it will be a matter of making salads to go with meals.
Sunday: Oven cooked jerk chicken with rice and peas
Monday: Oxtail with rice and peas
Tuesday: Run down with boiled dumplings and bananas
Wednesday: callaloo and saltfish with fried dumplings
Thursday: Curried Chicken and rice
Friday: Spicy lentil curry and rice
Saturday: Oxtail with rice and peas
Just typing this now is making my mouth water!
What meals have you got planned for next week? I would love you to try out the run down sauce in a jar and tell me what you think. Speak soon!
Jo and Leisa
Check out how to make Jerk Chicken and Jamaican meatloaf while you are here too! Or, if you prefer to, eat like a Jamaican for a whole week!
Run down sounds really interesting, I’d like to try it. I remember that you could get a small jar of Jerk sauce from Sainsburys and we loved it, but they stopped making it. The closet we’ve come is the Reggae Reggae Jerk sauce, but it’s been a long time since I made it from scratch. I’ve never tried mackerel in a meal like this before so maybe we should give it a go. The rest of your week sounds spicy but nice.
Anne Sweet recently posted…Four Things To Do On Your Lunch Break
wow that all sounds rather tasty, I love hearing your meal ideas i learn so much xx
I just got back from a trip home, Jamaica and you’re not helping with my feeling less homesick. This is easily one of my favorite things to eat. Thanks for sharing geway Jamaican recipes with others.
I hope you got the chance to eat some of it and also patties, which is our favourite.
Ladies this sounds lovely! You always make the most flavoursome dishes!
Katy Stevens recently posted…Review: Peppa Pig Stage Playset (AD – Gifted)
Some lovely sounding dishes packed with flavour x
Sounds delicious, a really interesting recipe idea! On another note – would it be possible to add me to your Pinterest group boards please? I’m https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ecothrifty/. Thank you!
Zoe Morrison recently posted…Is it ok to haggle in a charity shop?
Hiya Zoe, Do let us know which board/boards you’d like to be added to.
Bless up! Was totally looking for something else and buck up this post and made me realize how much I need to have some ‘run dung’ inna my life this weekend.
How good/ok is that coconut run down sauce compared to grating the coconut yourself? Lemme hop over to the other post and see what ‘yard man/woman’ food you served up
The sauce is actually close to the real deal. I would recommend it especially if you don’t have the coconut or can’t be bothered with grating it.