Accras De Morue

A dish of accras de morue.

Accras De Morue are  well known and loved throughout the Caribbean. These simple salt cod fritters are often served as an appetizer with cocktails when you’re visiting friends in the islands, and you can also order them at 90% of the restaurants (if not 100%) in the French West Indies.  They are a family favorite for us and a real treat whenever we make them.

My grandparents immigrated from the French West Indies island of Martinique.  Aside from heavy French accents they also brought with them recipes for some of their favorite regional dishes. This is one of them.  In Martinique they’re known as Marinades (mah-ree-nod) but everywhere else in the islands, they’re referred to as Accras, or Accras de Morue.  By either name these crispy-tender fritters have always been a staple at our family gatherings.

My grandparents are older now, and don’t do much cooking, but their caregiver, Michelle, is also from the islands and is in-the-know about accras, having grown up on them herself.  During a visit to see my grandparents, Michelle agreed to make a batch while I took copious notes (and pictures) of the process.  

Essentially these are cod-fish fritters and the recipe starts with salt-cod that has been soaked overnight.  Michelle changes out the water every so often before eventually simmering the fish in more fresh water.  

Newsletter Signup
Join our community of food lovers!

Get my latest recipes, helpful kitchen tips and more good things each week in your inbox.

From  my grandfather’s garden, she plucks a Scotch Bonnet pepper from a bush he has cultivated from special seeds.  

Scotch Bonnets are one of the hottest peppers around, so only use half a pepper if you’re sensitive.   She pulses the pepper with scallions and parsley in a mini-prep food processor.  

Then she does the same to the cooked cod until the flakes have shredded.

accras de morue

To make the batter she uses self-rising flour, baking soda and water.  My grandfather drifted into the kitchen to assess her progress, noting the differences in her recipe versus his own — “you dohn use zee bakeeng powdeh?”

“No,” she replies, “because I use self-rising flour”

He doesn’t say anything, but gives her a “hmph” and nods as if to say, continue.

accras de morue

She adds water to the flour mixture until she has a thick batter, then she folds in the codfish.

accras de morue

The chopped parsley, scallions and pepper are next.  I can smell their familiar perfume from across the kitchen.

accras de morue
accras de morue

Michelle shares a few tips on cooking the accras.  She always makes a “test” fritter – to gauge if the  oil is hot enough and to taste, in case she needs to add anything to the batter.  (Smart lady).  She also uses a tablespoon to measure out the batter, ensuring a uniform size to the fritters.  

accras de morue
accras de morue

And this may not seem like a big deal, but believe me it is — when she’s scooping out those crispy fritters she leans them against the side of the fryer for a good 20 seconds, letting the grease drain before finally depositing them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.   When I looked at the paper towels later, there was barely a grease spot at all – a simple, but genius tip!

As soon as the first batch was cool enough to handle, we all went in for a taste.  They were perfect.  Crispy outside, cooked perfectly inside, with a hint of spice.  

Michelle says that they fry fresh batches to serve hot during parties and family gatherings.  We take a lazier approach and freeze large batches, then just pop them in a hot oven when guests arrive.

If you put a platter of these out at your next cocktail party, I guarantee they’ll be devoured by your guests with the efficiency of a Hoover vacuum.

More fried appetizers and hors d’oeuvres you might like:

Tried this recipe? Leave a rating and review.

Your comments and shares are invaluable to me and the thousands of readers who use this site daily. If you've made the recipe, leave a star rating and review. We want to hear how you liked it.

We'd love it if you shared the recipe with your friends on social media!

recipe hero.
Print Pin
4.55 from 11 votes

Accras De Morue

A family favorite and one that is enjoyed all over the Caribbean!  
Author: Lisa Lotts
Course Appetizer
Cuisine French
Keyword codfish, fritters
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 12 hours 55 minutes
Servings 30

INGREDIENTS:

  • ½ pound salt cod
  • 1 cup parsley stems removed
  • 3 scallions cut into 1″ pieces
  • 1/2-1 habanero pepper seeds and stems removed
  • 3 cups self rising flour
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

  • Place codfish in a medium pot and cover with water. Let the fish soak in the water for at least 12 hours or overnight, Changing the water at least once. Drain the water from the fish and cover it again with fresh water. Put the pot on the stove and bring the water/codfish to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • In a mini prep food processor add the parsley, scallions and habanero. (Half a pepper gives a very subtle heat and flavor while the whole pepper adds more kick — I like kick!) Pulse several times until veg is chopped fine. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
  • Drain the water from the codfish. Use your hands to break it apart into large chunks. Transfer fish to the mini prep and pulse until the fish is finely shredded. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl combine the flour and baking soda.
  • Dissolve the salt in the water. Make a well in the flour and baking soda mixture. Add the water a little at a time until you have a thick batter. Stir in the vegetables and flaked cod and mix well to combine.
  • Heat oil in a fryer or dutch oven to 350-375 degrees. Use a round tablespoon measure to portion out the batter. Use the back of a spoon to scrape the batter into the hot oil — Note: When working with hot oil, be gentle when scooping the batter into the oil – don’t drop it from a height of greater than 2-3 inches, or it will splash and likely injure you. This is your tester fritter. From this one you should be able to judge if the oil is too hot, cold, or just right. If it’s too cold the batter will sink to the bottom and will take upwards of 10-15 seconds to float to the surface. Cook for a minute or two, then use a spider or slotted spoon to flip the marinade and brown on the other side. Cook for another minute or two until golden brown on the outside, but completely cooked inside. That’s why this is a tester – so you can judge your oil and timing — it can be different depending on the equipment you’re using.
  • When you’ve got the temperature and timing right, add 5-6 spoonfuls of batter into the oil and cook until browned. Scoop up marinades in the spoon and drain the oil away as much as possible by holding the spoon at an angle on the side of your fryer. (Believe it or not — this actually takes a lot of the oil out). Transfer the marinades to a baking sheet covered in several sheets of paper towels to drain. Continue making marinades until you’ve used up all the batter.
  • Serve with cocktails as a delicious hors d’oeuvre.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 68kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 6g | Cholesterol: 11mg | Sodium: 590mg | Potassium: 137mg | Vitamin A: 190IU | Vitamin C: 3.4mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 0.5mg

 More Tasty Appetizers:

Don’t Forget To “Pin It” For Later

This authentic Carribbean Accras recipe is easy to make and is the best hors d'oeuvre or appetizer with cocktails.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

24 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Very nice recipe chef . I made it and was yummy . Thank you for your effort .

  2. Ooh I am so happy to have found you. I lived in Martinique for a year to teach ESL at the University in 2003/2004. I loved so much of the food there! I’ll be making these ASAP. The things I miss most are fresh prune de cythere juice, all the fresh fish and ti punch.

  3. Cris Jones says:

    5 stars
    Hi I need to try this but I have two questions :
    Can you use fresh cod ?
    Can you do the fritters in an air fryer ? I would coat them with cooking spray to get the crisp maybe
    I had these many times in France and they are delicious.

    1. Hi Cris – no, you wouldn’t want to use fresh cod for these fritters — it’s too delicate — salt cod has a much firmer texture. Also on the air fryer, sadly no. The batter is far too thin to hold up — you’d have something akin to pancakes instead of a round fluffy fritter. Stick with the recipe as written to get results like you remember from France.

  4. 5 stars
    Thank you for sharing this recipe! This dish is comfort food to me (I’m from St Lucia). Can’t wait to make this:)

    1. It’s my comfort food too. Reminds me of my grandparents who came from Martinique.

  5. We’ve just come back (yesterday) from Martinique and I had them quite a few lunches – absolutely great with crudites.
    I asked a local lady one day, who we were having lunch with, how to make them and she said basically a similar recipe but that she whisks an egg white and folds it in at the end – I assume it’s not as runny before she adds the egg white.
    Is that in a normal recipe?

    1. Did you love Martinique? My parents are going there in a few weeks — and hopefully will bring me back some rhum agricole. As far as what’s “normal” I’ve seen so many DIFFERENT “authentic” recipes for accras that I can only assume that egg white is normal for her recipe. ‘There’s more than one way to skin a cat’ as they say and the different methods for making these tasty bites are as varied as the islands in the Caribbean. I guess we’ll just have to try them all to find our favorites. Tough job.

  6. 5 stars
    These sounds so good Lisa. So nice and crispy! I love that they have habanero chili in them – I do like my food to have a bit of spice!

    1. I’m the same way, Hope- a bit of heat is always welcome!

  7. Oh, those sound wonderful! We just had a Caribbean restaurant open here…I will have to find out if they serve these! And make them myself if I can figure out where to find salt cod.

    1. Your market should carry it in the freezer section. Ask one of the stockboys or at customer service.

  8. 5 stars
    Oh my these sound so delicious, I’d love these with a cold glass of vino!

  9. These fish fritters sound great for parties, very similar to Indian fritters called Daal Vada, except it is made lentils, green chillies and other spices.

    1. Oh, that sounds delicious, Jagruti. I’d love to try that as well!

  10. I actually had something similar to this in a tapas bar recently, but I love that these have habanero in – such a great flavoured chilli.

    1. They are ubiquitous in the Carribbean and the flavor is very unique. You must try them!

  11. Oh my they look awesome! I recently visited a salt cod producer during my visit to Scotland and now know what to do with my stash!
    Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
    Jane x

    1. Thank you, Jane! How cool that you have a salt cod producer! Definitely try this!

  12. Right up my ally of things I love. I agree with Coco in the kitchen! Lovely.

  13. Thefreshaussie says:

    5 stars
    These fish balls sound delicious, and something I would make. Yum!

  14. Coco in the Kitchen says:

    Good God, these look yummy!
    I want to make them tonight. I don’t have salt cod, but I do have smoked salmon which
    might work well.
    Cheers!

  15. An old family favorite 🙂 Yum!