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1
Place the salt cod in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for 8–12 hours, changing the water three times. Drain. Transfer to a saucepan, cover with fresh cold water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10–15 minutes. Lift the fish from the water. Taste a flake: it should carry moderate salinity — seasoned, not harsh. This residual salt will season the entire dish; if still aggressively salty, return the fish to fresh water and simmer again.
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2
While the fish is still hot, remove all skin and bones. Pull the flesh apart along its natural muscle fibres into thin, even threads. Hot flesh separates cleanly along the grain; cold flesh breaks in chunks and distributes unevenly through the finished dish.
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3
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Add the onion, sweet peppers, and the scotch bonnet (whole or minced). Cook, stirring, until the onion is completely soft and translucent and the peppers have collapsed — this is the flavour base and it must be fully cooked before any protein is added. Add the thyme and tomatoes and continue cooking until the tomatoes break down into the sofrito and any excess liquid has evaporated. The pan should smell sweet and aromatic, with no raw onion sharpness remaining.
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4
Add the shredded saltfish to the sofrito and fold to combine. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the fish is heated through and the threads are evenly distributed throughout the base. This is where the dish lives or dies: the salt level of the fish, set in step one and now married to the sofrito, cannot be corrected — taste here and adjust only with additional desalted fish or more tomato, never added salt.
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5
Add the drained ackee lobes across the surface of the pan. Fold gently — two or three slow, wide movements of a wooden spoon or spatula — just until the lobes are heated through and have absorbed the surrounding flavours. The lobes should remain whole, pale yellow, and hold their shape: buttery and intact, not broken or grainy. Remove the whole scotch bonnet and thyme sprigs before serving.