Smoked Mackerel Rundown

Adapted by Ligaya Mishan

Updated March 27, 2024

Smoked Mackerel Rundown — Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.

Total Time: 1 hour
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(20)
Notes: Read community notes

Rundown is only one of many names for this earthy Jamaican stew of fish and vegetables simmered in coconut milk. It's “an easy dish with big rewards,” says Melissa Thompson, a British writer and the author of the “Motherland” cookbook (Interlink Books, 2022). She begins by slackening onions in a pan, followed by garlic, yellow yam, tomatoes and red bell peppers. Spices are half the transformation: ginger, allspice and cumin, built to warm; thyme, with its kiss of camphor; bay leaves for a piney depth. Coconut milk is poured over, and the heat is left to do its work. When the yam turns tender, the fish goes in — in Ms. Thompson’s version, adapted for life in England, smoked mackerel takes the place of more classic salted mackerel — and then the coconut milk gets another 10 minutes to “run down” and thicken to near cream. This dish is also known as dip-dip, because diners traditionally scoop up the stew with the likes of boiled dumplings and, here, green bananas, not yet sweet. —Ligaya Mishan

Featured in: The Pure, Earthy Richness of a Beloved Jamaican Fish Stew

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

Vegetable oil, for frying
1onion, sliced
7 to 8ounces yellow yam or pumpkin, peeled, seeded if necessary and chopped
2tomatoes, chopped
1red bell pepper, sliced
3garlic cloves, crushed
1(1-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely grated
½teaspoon ground pimento (allspice)
½teaspoon ground cumin
3thyme sprigs, leaves only
1⅔cups coconut milk
2bay leaves
6smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed, or 2 (3.5- to 5-ounce) tins smoked mackerel, drained
Salt (optional)
2large green (unripe) bananas (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
In a large, deep frying pan or skillet with a lid, heat about 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally, until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
Step 2
Add the yam, tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, ginger, pimento, cumin and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, another 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and bay leaves, add a splash of water to loosen, then cover and cook down until the yam has softened, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Step 3
Remove the lid, stir in the mackerel and cook until the liquid has thickened, about 10 minutes.
Step 4
To make the optional green bananas, heat a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the ends off of each banana, then cut each banana into 2 or 3 pieces. Add to the water and boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and discard the peel.
Step 5
Serve the rundown with the boiled green bananas, if desired.

Ratings

4 out of 5

20 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

Curious Cook2 months ago

Does this call for true yams or yellow sweet potatoes?

Fay Watson2 months ago

This calls for true yellow yam.

Wesley Harris2 months ago

Actual yams, not sweet potatoes. Jamaicans differentiate between two.

PME3 weeks ago

Loved the dish, but wasn’t a big fan of the canned smoked mackerel. Are there other acceptable fish substitutes, or even chicken thighs? The sauce was fantastic.

MR from Oaktown2 months ago

Very good! I ended up making it with Japanese (white) yams, less than the amount of mackerel called for (4 instead of 6 filets), and no bay leaves, and it still came out very tasty.

Katinka2 months ago

what fish would be best to substitute? we can't get mackerel here.

glisglis2 months ago

One of the main points of this dish seems to be the fish. With that said, my interest was piqued by the seasonings and I made a vegan version with smoked tofu and some seaweed salt instead of the smoked makerel. The rundown sauce is delicious, now to look for other ital rundown recipes.

michelle2 months ago

Run-down is one of my favorite dishes from home. I haven’t made it this way but am willing to try. It’s also good with fresh mackerel. If you’re using salted mackerel be sure to boil off some of the salt.

Amn2 months ago

In Jamaica and in NYC, we make this with salted mackerel and coconut cream not milk. Not sure who created this recipe, but please make it both ways and decide which one is better.

Confused2 months ago

Pimento is allspice? Or is pimenta Jamaican alspice?

Carole2 months ago

from Wikipedia: Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world.

Michele T.2 months ago