Jamaican · Miscellaneous
Callaloo Jamaican Style

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Method
- Cut leaves and soft stems from the kale branches, them soak in a bowl of cold water for about 5-10 minutes or until finish with prep.
- Proceed to slicing the onions, mincing the garlic and dicing the tomatoes. Set aside
- Remove kale from water cut in chunks.
- Place bacon on saucepan and cook until crispy. Then add onions, garlic, thyme, stir for about a minute or more
- Add tomatoes; scotch bonnet pepper, smoked paprika. Sauté for about 2-3 more minutes.
- Finally add vegetable, salt, mix well, and steamed for about 6-8 minutes or until leaves are tender. Add a tiny bit of water as needed. Adjust seasonings and turn off the heat.
- Using a sharp knife cut both ends off the plantain. This will make it easy to grab the skin of the plantains. Slit a shallow line down the long seam of the plantain; peel only as deep as the peel. Remove plantain peel by pulling it back.
- Slice the plantain into medium size lengthwise slices and set aside.
- Coat a large frying pan with cooking oil spray. Spray the tops of the plantains with a generous layer of oil spray and sprinkle with salt, freshly ground pepper.
- Let the plantains "fry" on medium heat, shaking the frying pan to redistribute them every few minutes.
- As the plantains brown, continue to add more cooking oil spray, salt and pepper (if needed) until they have reached the desired color and texture.
- Remove and serve with kale
Cooking notes
Scaling works best when you weigh ingredients rather than measure by volume — small differences in packing can compound at higher multipliers.
For volume-to-weight conversions of any ingredient — flour, sugar, butter, salts — use the ingredient converter. To translate the recipe's oven temperature between °C, °F and gas mark, see the temperature converter.
When you scale this recipe up or down, remember that cooking time does not scale linearly. A doubled cake takes longer, but not twice as long; a doubled soup takes roughly twice as long. The cooking-time guide gives sensible starting estimates by dish geometry.
Recipe video
Callaloo Jamaican Style
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OpenCooking time
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OpenIngredient density
A cup of flour weighs 120 g; a cup of honey weighs 340. The full table of ~40 staples, with sources.
OpenOpen in main scaler
Edit the recipe text, scale by serving count, and copy the result. Same parser as the in-page scaler, more room to work.
OpenFrom the journal
Original essays on the small details.
The why behind the technique — original writing on the ingredient and equipment choices that separate a good cook from a frustrated one.
Eggs by weight, not by count
Why your four-egg recipe might really be a five-egg recipe
Read essayApril 12, 2026
The case for the oven thermometer
Your oven is probably lying to you, and here's how to catch it
Read essayFebruary 28, 2026
Butter temperature ruins more cookies than the oven does
Cold, softened, melted — three states, three completely different bakes
Read essayDecember 15, 2025
Go deeper
Where this recipe sits in the wider tradition.
Each guide below is a real essay on the cuisine or the category — pillars, staples, techniques worth learning — paired with a curated grid of recipes filed under it.
Cuisine guide · Jamaican
Cooking the Jamaican way
Caribbean fire — jerk, escovitch, ackee, and the African-Indian-Spanish-British inheritance.
Open the guideCategory guide · Miscellaneous
How to cook in this category
The dishes that don't fit a single protein bucket — and are often the best at the table.
Open the guideReady to cook?
Scale it to your table, then get into the kitchen.
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