Desalt the saltfish before cooking. Soak it in water, drain, and repeat with fresh water until the salt level is where you want it. For my stovetop batch, I soaked the saltfish for 30 minutes, drained it, then soaked it again in fresh water. Drain and break the fish into smaller pieces before cooking.

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic, and pimento peppers, if using. Sauté for about 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the washed rice and stir briefly to coat it with the oil and aromatics.

Stir in the chopped ochro.

Add the coconut milk and water, followed by the prepared saltfish, black pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine.

Place the whole hot pepper on top. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Check the rice after 15 minutes. If the rice still needs more cooking and the liquid has dried out, add a small amount of water. Cover and continue cooking until the rice is tender and as dry as you like it. Mine took about another 8 minutes.

Remove the hot pepper and fluff the rice. Taste before adding salt and add only if needed.

Add the washed rice, water, coconut milk, garlic, pimento peppers or pimento sauce, chives, celery, ochro, sugar, black pepper, and prepared saltfish to the Instant Pot. Stir to combine.

Place the whole hot pepper on top without stirring it into the rice.

Close the lid and select the Rice setting. If cooking manually, set the Instant Pot to Low Pressure for 12 minutes.

When the cooking cycle is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally.

Open the lid and remove the hot pepper. Fluff the rice, taste, and add salt only if needed.

Serve warm.