Category Archives: Fish and Seafood

Fish and seafood recipes from Mexico, Spain, Chile, and farther abroad.

Fish and Seafood

Chupe de Camarones

Chilean shrimp stew

1-1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp in shells
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 lb. whitefish heads and trimmings
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tsp. chopped chiles
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 quarts water
2 large potatoes, cubed
2 potatoes, halved lengthwise
1 lb. green peas
1/2 cup long grain rice
2 ears of corn, cut in thirds
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Clean the shrimp, saving shells. In a casserole, heat the oil. Add onion, shrimp shells, fish trimmings, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 6 minutes.

Stir in tomato, chile, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes. Add water and diced potatoes. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Pour into a sieve over a bowl and force through with a spoon. Discard the pulp. Return puree to casserole, bring to a boil and add potato halves and rice. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Add peas and corn. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Drop in shrimp and cook 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat eggs. Pour eggs slowly into the stew. Add milk and simmer to heat through. Season and sprinkle with parsley.

Fish and Seafood

Paella Alicantina

Spanish seafood paella (pilaf) from Alicante, Spain… one of the many variations.

Sea Creature, Carol, 1988
Sea Creature, Carol, 1988
  • 1 small frying chicken, cut
  • 1/4 lb fish fillets in chunks
  • 1 green pepper, cut in strips
  • 1 red pimiento, cut in strips
  • 1-1/4 cups crushed tomatoes
  • 4 artichoke hearts, halved
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups rice
  • 3 filaments of saffron
  • 1 small head garlic, chopped
  • 1/4 lb whole shrimp
  • 5 cups water
  • Salt

Boil chicken pieces in the water with the garlic for 10 minutes. Remove and reserve broth. Place the oil in a paella pan and fry green peppers with the shrimp for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and add chicken pieces with garlic, fish and tomato. Cook 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes. Add the broth, season with salt and saffron. Place green pepper, pimiento strips, artichoke hearts and shrimp on top. Cook for 20 minutes.

Many other varieties of seafood can be added: clams, mussels, crab, scallops…

Fish and Seafood

Fish ‘n’ Chips Beer Batter

Ah, those crispy hunks of batter-laden fish with a pile of homemade french fries! At home, Mom usually used cod fish fillets or sometimes halibut. The beer in this batter makes it light and extra crisp.

  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 pint beer
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 egg whites
  • fish fillets

Combine the flour, beer, and cooking oil, and let stand in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes.

Add salt. Beat the egg whites stiff. Fold into the flour mixture. Dip fish in flour and then in batter. Deep fry until crisp and golden in a good quality, very hot oil.

Fish and Chips

Fish and Seafood

Salt Cod with Peppers

Bacalao al Piemiento Morron

(Recipe from Gabriela Barraza)

Garbriela’s Salt Cod with Peppers is a Mexican version. Here it is eaten traditionally on Christmas Eve.

  • 3 lbs salt cod, soaked, cleaned and cubed
  • 6 lbs.green peppers, roasted, deveined, and halved
  • 3 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic

Fry garlic and onion until tender. Add green peppers and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the salt cod cook over low flame until done. May add a little olive oil if desired.

Don’t let salt cod recipes scare you off. Just make sure you really soak the cod for many hours and change the water often in order to get the saltiness out.

When my friend Linda and I went to Lisbon in 1991, we took a tram northiward along the coast and finally came to the end of the line. Being hungry, we went into a tiny restaurant that from the looks of it was the proprietor’s living room. No space to waste. The place was crowded. and looked like a good bet for some good food. Since one of the only things I recognized on the menu was Salt Cod, and since in Portugal it is something like the national dish, I ordered it. With wine, of course. I could not beliieve how delicious it was and I keep looking for more recipes, trying to equal what I had at the end of the tram-line.

Fish and Seafood

Octopus in its own ink

PULPOS EN SU TINTA

(Recipe from Gabriela Barraza)

Wash octopus with lime juice and rinse well. Cut up and cook. (Emilia, the maid, cooks them for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker without water, and then chops them.)

Finely chop garlic, onion, tomato and parsley. Sauté the onion and garlic lightly, then add tomato and parsley. Allow to cook. Add octopus pieces, a bay leaf and the octopus ink. A bit of red wine may be added.

Personal comment:

I’ve heard that there’s a way to cook octopus very slightly, just to the right point so that it’s tender and juicy–a matter of a few minutes. I’ve never been able to do it. My method of cooking octopus tender is to throw it in a large pot, cover with water, cover the pot and put on the stove for a minimum of two hours. You don’t have to worry about anything except keeping the level of water high enough to cover the carcass. Once a fork glides smoothly into the thickest part of the body, drain and cool. Once it’s cool, remove the fatty parts and the suckers on the tentacles, if you wish (all that can be slid off with your fingers), and chop the now buttery-tender tentacles and body (discarding the hard eyes), and use as desired. By the way, the ink must be removed before boiling!

Fish and Seafood

Huachinango a la Veracruzana

Huachinango is the name for red snapper in Spanish. Veracruz-style fillets of red snapper are a Mexican favorite.

It is a savory fish dish seasoned with a medley of spices and the tang of green olives and chile peppers. Veracruz style red snapper is often made with whole red snappers instead of the fillets. This is only one of many variations.

Ingredients for Huachinango a la Veracruzana (Red Snapper Fish Veracruz Style)

  • 6 fillets of red snapper
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups tomato puree
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cloves
  • 3 jalapeños, chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 12 small new potatoes, pared and boiled
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 5 slices bread, cubed
  • 15 green olives
  • Salt and pepper

Fry bread cubes in butter until crisp and golden. Set aside. Dust fillets with flour. Heat oil and sauté the fish fillets. Set aside.

To same pan, add onion and garlic, adding more oil if necessary. Sauté until soft. Add tomato puree, cinnamon and cloves. Cook 5 minutes. Add chiles, lemon juice, and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.

Add potatoes and fish and heat thoroughly. Serve fish on a platter with the sauce, garnished with croutons and olives. Servings: 6

Fish by Carol

Fish and Seafood

Dad’s Pescado Veracruzana

This recipe for Veracruz-style fish was developed by Dad over the years. He always used cazon,  or baby shark, which is a very firm fish. The recipe instructions as presented are just as he wrote them out. I have added the ingredients list separately above to make it easier to prepare at a glance.

  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2-3 chiles largos, canned
  • 1-1/2 cups pitted olives
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • 1 T Knorr chicken bouillon granules
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
  • 1-2 small tomatoes, chopped
  • Cazon fillets for four (baby shark)
  • water as necessary

Fish by Carol

Veracruzana.

(portion for four)

In three quarter cup of olive oil fry one medium chopped onion, add two or three chiles largos ( strong long yellow pepper preserves preferred)  To tame hotness seeds can be removed. Add one to one and half cups  pitted olives and half cup of capers.  A table spoonful of Knorr’s chicken powder, juice of two limes, one finely chopped carrot. One stalk of finely chopped celery, one or two small tomatoes.

Bring mixture to a boil and then let simmer for an hour or two before adding fish. The longer it simmers the better the taste.

Quantity of fish depends on appetite and size of fillets.  Baby shark (cazon) is my favorite but any white fish fillet can be used I believe. Fish should be filleted bone free and sliced thinly.  I believe that tuna can be substituted but I am not sure.  Not being too familiar with the fish available in Canada this may take some experimentation.

The fish can be placed into boiling sauce for stove top cooking in covered pot for ten minutes (Time is for cazon other varieties may require more time.)   Best is to place fish into baking dish and bake for about fifteen minutes at high heat.

You may wish to alter the consistency of the sauce by adding water.

Good luck and enjoy it.

 

Fish and Seafood

Caldero Murciano

  • 1 lb. mullet, whole
  • 2 lbs. other mixed whole hearty fish
  • 2 cups rice
  • 2 dried pimientos, if available (otherwise, regular pimientos)
  • 3 heads of garlic
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • 1-1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 8 cups water
  • Saffron, salt and pepper
  • 1 small, cooked potato

Cut heads off fish and reserve. Cut fish bodies into thick rounds and sprinkle with salt. Set aside. Heat half of the oil in a heavy pot( traditionally iron). Fry the dried pimientos. Remove and put aside.

Add the fish heads to the same pot. Fry and remove. Throw the tomatoes, peeled and chopped, into the same pot. Fry 5 minutes. Add 8 cups water. In a mortar, crush the pimientos, one head of garlic, and 3 or 4 saffron filaments.

Add to pot and cook 5 minutes. Add the fish bodies and cook until done. Remove fish and set aside, keeping warm. Set aside 1 cup of the fish stock. Season the rest of the stock with salt and pepper and add the rice, letting cook over low flame for 20 minutes.

In the mortar, crush another head of garlic and mix with the cup of reserved fish stock. This will be used as a sauce for the fish upon serving. Crush the third head of garlic with the cooked potato; combine with the egg yolk and rest of oil. This sauce is for the rice. Serve the fish and rice separately with their respective sauces.