Fish Tea is Jamaica's beloved light fish soup — not a 'tea' but a clear, deeply flavored broth of fish (often the whole fish, head and bones included), green bananas, yam, dumplings, and scotch bonnet. It is the restorative soup of Jamaican mornings, served at every roadside cookshop, believed to strengthen the body and clear the mind.
Fish Tea is a Jamaican institution — despite the name, it is a light, clear fish soup, not a tea. The name comes from the fact that it is served in a cup and sipped like tea. It is made with whole fish (often a small whole snapper or doctor fish), simmered with green bananas, yam, flour dumplings, and scotch bonnet pepper. The broth is clear, intensely fish-flavored, and slightly spicy. It is served at roadside cookshops, at celebrations, and as a hangover cure. Every Jamaican has eaten fish tea.
A cup of clear, golden, intensely fish-flavored broth with pieces of tender fish, soft green banana, and a small flour dumpling. The scotch bonnet gives a gentle warmth (not overwhelming). The broth is light but deeply satisfying — it is the soup you drink when you need restoring. Sip it from a cup, eat the solids with a spoon.
The fish should be whole and small (the bones and head give the broth its depth). It is simmered gently (never boiled — boiling makes the broth cloudy). The green bananas and yam are starchy vegetables that thicken the broth slightly. The dumplings (small flour-and-water balls) add substance. The scotch bonnet is added whole (for flavor, not heat — it is removed before serving if desired).
Variations
Some use different fish; some add carrots; some use packaged fish broth; the vegetable mix varies.
On the Palate
Where Fish Tea sits in the Jamaican flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 35 min active + 25 min waiting
- 15 min
Clean 1 small whole fish (about 500 g, snapper or similar); remove gills.
- 23 min
In a pot, bring 2 liters water to a boil with 1 onion (quartered), 2 garlic cloves, 1 sprig thyme, 1 whole scotch bonnet (pierced), and 1 tsp allspice.
- 320 min
Add the whole fish; simmer 20 minutes.
Watch outKeep it at a gentle simmer, never a rolling boil — boiling churns the fish to shreds and turns the broth cloudy instead of clear.
- 45 min
Remove the fish; pick the meat off the bones; return the meat to the pot.
- 53 min
Add 1 green banana (peeled, sliced), 200 g yam (peeled, cubed), and 4 small flour dumplings.
- 615 min
Simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Watch outThe soup is ready when the green banana and yam turn tender all the way through and the dumplings float and cook out their raw flour.
- 71 min
Season with salt and pepper.
- 81 min
Serve hot in cups.
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