Who knew that stuffed christophine aka cho cho could be tasty and incredibly easy to make. The christophine is halved and boiled, with the flesh scooped out then filled with sauteed seasoned saltfish.
Depending on what part of the Caribbean or even world you're from then you may know these are any of the following - christophine, cho cho, chayote, chow chow, mirliton and so fourth.
I know them as cho cho but for the sake of popular search engine terms we will refer to them as christophine.
If you're like me and grew up on this fruit (it's a fruit albeit, eaten like a vegetable) then you must of had some in your soup, stews even roasted.
While I love having christophine/cho cho in my Saturday soup, sometimes it's nice to switch things up a little.
I recently dropped my Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers which seems to be a hit with my readers.
I couldn't stop there so had to follow up with a Caribbean version, stuffing a christophine instead with cooked up saltfish.
I didn't just use saltfish though, it's sautéed and steamed with cabbage, okra and bell peppers making the dish more filling.
Reasons to make this recipe
- A unique way of using christophine/cho cho.
- It's a low carb recipe.
- Easy and very simple recipe to make.
- A great way to impress your guests.
- Ideal for if you're looking for unique presentation
The steps
- Fill a ¾ of a medium sized saucepan with water and bring to the boil with ½ teaspoon of pink salt.
- Chop each christophine lengthways then place them in the saucepan of boiling water.
- Boil the christophine until they are fork tender (this should take about 20 minutes).
- Drain off the water and allow to completely cool.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and edible seed (you can use this as mash) and set the christophine aside.
- On medium heat, add the olive oil and proceed to saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Add the okra and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Fold in the saltfish so it combines with the okra and bell peppers.
- Add the tomato puree along with the cabbage.
- Stir in the water so the tomato and cabbage are more evenly distributed.
- Cover the frying pan with the lid and steam for 8-10 minutes.
- After the given time, season with seafood seasoning, chadon beni, thyme, hot sauce, black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Fill each of the shells with the saltfish/vegetable mix.
Notes and tips
- Don't overboil the cho cho or they will be too soft and fragile when the flesh needs to be scooped out.
- You will need my D.I.Y saltfish recipe and Seafood Seasoning too.
- While the cho cho is boiling start to cook the ingredients that you will be putting into the cavity to save some time.
- You can add more vegetables if you want to.
- You can de-slim the okra if you want by following this method from when I made Ochro Rice.
- It's best to serve straight away, alternatively you can refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- DO NOT freeze the stuffed christophine, you can freeze the saltfish/cabbage mix by itself if you need to.
More recipes to try
- Cuban Picadillo
- Plantain and Cho Cho
- Saltfish Fried Rice
- Green Fig and Saltfish
- Green Seasoning
- Tomato Choka
- Caribbean Baked Fish
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Stuffed Christophine (Cho Cho/Chayote)
Ingredients
To boil the christophine
- 3-4 large christophine
- water see instructions
- ½ teaspoon pink salt (3g)
To saute and steam
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (28g)
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup mixed bell peppers (150g) chopped
- 4-5 okra chopped and de-slimmed, see notes
- ½ lb saltfish (250g) see notes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (15g)
- 2 cups white cabbage (140g) shredded, tightly packed
- ½ cup warm water (118ml)
- 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (5g) see notes
- 2 teaspoon chadon beni (10g)
- 2 teaspoon thyme (10g) dried or fresh
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (5g)
- black pepper and pink salt to taste
Instructions
- Fill a ¾ of a medium sized saucepan with water and bring to the boil with ½ teaspoon of pink salt.
- Chop each christophine lengthways then place them in the saucepan of boiling water.
- Boil the christophine until they are fork tender (this should take about 20 minutes).
- Drain off the water and allow to completely cool.
- Use a spoon to scoop out the flesh and edible seed (you can use this as mash) and set the christophine aside.
- On medium heat, add the olive oil and proceed to saute the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
- Add the okra and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.
- Fold in the saltfish so it combines with the okra and bell peppers.
- Add the tomato paste along with the cabbage.
- Stir in the water so the tomato and cabbage are more evenly distributed.
- Cover the frying pan with the lid and steam for 8-10 minutes.
- After the given time, season with seafood seasoning, chadon beni, thyme, hot sauce, black pepper and pink salt to taste.
- Fill each of the shells with the saltfish/vegetable mix.
Notes
- Don't overboil the cho cho or they will be too soft and fragile when the flesh needs to be scooped out.
- You will need my D.I.Y saltfish recipe and Seafood Seasoning too.
- While the cho cho is boiling start to cook the ingredients that you will be putting into the cavity to save some time.
- You can add more vegetables if you want to.
- You can de-slim the okra if you want by following this method from when I made Ochro Rice.
- It's best to serve straight away, alternatively you can refrigerate for up to 2 days.
- DO NOT freeze the stuffed christophine, you can freeze the saltfish/cabbage mix by itself if you need to.
Duane says
Very different, yet healthy and tasty too.
Charla says
I concur Duane.