Bake and Shark Recipe

Bake and Shark, or Shark and Bake — whatever you call it — is arguably Trinidad and Tobago’s most famous food. It’s the first stop you make at Maracas before even putting your toes in the sand. And that makes total sense.

This bake and shark recipe fries up crispy shark, marinated in dried and fresh seasonings for maximum flavour. For the fry bake, we made life easy by using National Flour Mills‘ Lion Brand Fry Bake Mix, containing everything you need. All you have to do is just add water! (But we also gave ingredients just in case you can’t get your hands on the mix.)

One bite of this bake of shark takes your mind to the white sandy shores of Maracas Bay.

Ingredients

For the shark:

• 2 pounds shark meat
• 1 cup of Hibiscus all-purpose flour
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 scallion chopped
• 3 tablespoons green seasoning
• 1 teaspoon fish seasoning
• Dash of bitters
• 1 tablespoon lime pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

For the fry bake:

• 2 cups Lion Brand’s Fry Bake Mix
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
  
  OR
  
• 2 cups Hibiscus all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon yeast
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup lukewarm water
  
• Lotus Soyabean Oil, for frying

Directions

1. Season shark with all the seasonings and set aside to marinate.
2. Prepare bake dough, knead bake mix with water, salt, sugar to form a medium dough. Add enough water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead until smooth.
3. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
4. Season flour to dredge shark.
5. Dredge shark in seasoned flour and fry on medium heat.
6. Divide dough into small portions and shape into small balls, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest for 5-7 minutes.
7. Roll out dough balls.
8. Fry on medium heat.
9. Make garlic sauce – put all ingredients into blender and blend.
10. Assemble your bake and shark with lettuce, tomatoes, pineapple, garlic sauce and your favourite dressings.