Cho cho — also known as chayote or christophene — is a pale green, pear-shaped vegetable from the gourd family that grows widely across Jamaica and the Caribbean. With its mild, slightly sweet flavour and a texture between cucumber and courgette, it readily takes on the seasonings cooked with it.
Cho cho and saltfish is one of Jamaica's quieter classics — a Saturday morning or light supper dish that has been on the island's table for generations. It sits in the same family as ackee and saltfish but is lighter, gentler and quicker to put together.
Cooking Instructions
- Place salted fish into a bowl of fresh water, simmer for 15–20 minutes
- Drain water, debone and flake fish if required. Use of skinless & boneless fish eradicates this step.
- Peel, halve and deseed the cho cho, then slice thinly
- Pour oil into a frying pan and heat gently
- Fry finely chopped onion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper and tomatoes. Add all-purpose seasoning to desired taste.
- Add the saltfish and stir well
- Add the sliced cho cho and a splash of water, cover and steam for 8–10 minutes until tender
- Finish with fresh thyme and spring onion
- Serve hot with fried dumplings, boiled dumplings or hard food
"Hard food" refers to boiled provisions such as white yam, Jamaican yellow yam, green banana, pumpkin or Jamaican sweet potato.
Cho cho and saltfish is one of those dishes that older Jamaicans remember from their grandmother's kitchen — simple, frugal, deeply seasoned and made from what was on hand. Salted cod, brought to Jamaica through centuries of trade, became the household protein. Cho cho, easy to grow and abundant in the hills, was the everyday vegetable that stretched a meal.
The dish is naturally light. Cho cho has a high water content and a mild flavour, so it lifts the saltiness of the fish rather than competing with it. Onion, scotch bonnet, garlic, scallion and thyme do the heavy lifting on flavour, while the cho cho gives body and a clean, fresh finish. It is most often eaten for breakfast or as a light supper, served alongside fried dumplings, boiled dumplings, or "hard food" — boiled yam, green banana, sweet potato or pumpkin.
This recipe uses fresh cho cho and skinless and boneless saltfish. Using boneless saltfish saves the picking-out step entirely and makes this a 25-minute weekday meal.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4.
- 3 medium cho cho (chayote), peeled, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 250g skinless and boneless saltfish
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, deseeded and finely chopped (use half if you prefer milder)
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 2 spring onions (scallions), chopped
- 2–3 sprigs fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2–3 tablespoons water
- All-purpose seasoning and black pepper, to taste
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the saltfish into a bowl of fresh water and simmer for 15–20 minutes to remove excess salt. Drain, then flake the fish, removing any remaining bones or skin. Using skinless and boneless saltfish saves this step entirely — a quick rinse and a 5-minute soak is enough.
- Prepare the cho cho: peel each one (the skin can secrete a sticky sap — peel under cold running water or wear gloves), cut in half lengthways, scoop out the soft central seed, and slice the flesh thinly into half-moons.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or Dutch pot over a medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion, garlic and tomato. Fry gently for 3–4 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the scotch bonnet pepper and thyme. Season with all-purpose seasoning and black pepper. Stir well and cook for a further minute until fragrant.
- Add the flaked saltfish and stir to coat in the seasoned oil. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the sliced cho cho and stir to combine. Add 2–3 tablespoons of water, cover the pan, and reduce the heat to low.
- Steam for 8–10 minutes, lifting the lid once to stir, until the cho cho is tender but still holds its shape.
- Uncover, add the chopped spring onions and stir through. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Serve immediately.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Cho cho and saltfish is traditionally served with boiled provisions — known in Jamaica as "hard food". Try it with white yam, Jamaican yellow yam, boiled green banana, pumpkin, or Jamaican sweet potato — all available from our fresh vegetables and yams range. For a quicker breakfast, serve with fried dumplings, boiled dumplings, or a wedge of avocado pear on the side.
WHAT IS CHO CHO?
Cho cho (Sechium edule) is a pale green, pear-shaped fruit from the gourd family, although it is eaten and cooked like a vegetable. It is native to Mesoamerica and was carried across the Caribbean and into Jamaica during the colonial era, where it took root in local kitchens and became a staple of the island's everyday cooking.
Across the Caribbean it goes by many names — chayote in Spanish-speaking islands and Latin America, christophene or christophine in the French-speaking Caribbean, cho cho or chocho in Jamaica, and mirliton in parts of the southern United States. In some parts of Asia it is called chow chow or chayote squash.
The flesh is firm, mild and slightly sweet — somewhere between a cucumber and a courgette. The whole fruit is edible, including the soft central seed when very young. Cho cho is naturally low in calories, high in fibre and a good source of vitamin C, folate and potassium.
In Jamaican cooking, cho cho appears most often in soups — particularly chicken soup, cock soup and the Saturday "saltfish soup" — where it absorbs the seasonings and adds body. It is also stewed, steamed with saltfish as in this recipe, stuffed with seasoned mince or saltfish, used in vegetable curries, or added to bean dishes such as butter beans. When young and tender, it can even be grated raw into salads.
Browse our full range of Jamaican food online with UK-wide delivery, or read our Jamaican Ackee & Saltfish Recipe
