Tonight I made ackee and crab plantain dumplings! Ackees are the national fruit of Jamaica! Not only are they the national fruit of Jamaica but the national dish of Jamaica is ackee and salt fish! This beloved fruit is soooo cool and fun to work with. I was lucky enough to have my friend @Gray Davis shared some from his tree with me ❤️ The yellow pods around the seeds of the ackee are edible once they are boiled for 30 minutes! The flavor is slightly nutty and really delicious- when cooked the texture is soft and almost custardy! I decided to pair the ackee with jumbo lump crab meat tonight. I am not a huge fan of salt fish and I didn’t want any food to go to waste so don’t judge 🥹 I sautéed some green peppers, garlic, and onions in algae oil then added the crab and the ackee. As that was cooking I boiled and mashed green plantains to make dumpling wrappers! Once the green plantains are blended all you have to do is form them into little balls then press with a tortilla press! A little tip- lightly grease two pieces of parchment paper to put between the plantains and the tortilla press so it doesn’t stick! I next added the ackee and crab mixture to the dumpling wrapper and folded it together! Plantains when cooked like this are super delicate, so I decided to torch some salted butter on top! The final result was absolutely delicious ! For a little bit of extra fun, I added a charred habanero and a couple of pieces of thyme on top of the dumpling! This is definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever made in terms of taste, tecture, and concept ❤️ #ackee - @sooziethefoodie