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Escabeche de pescado
Fried fish in sweet-sour onion sauce
Escabeche de pescado: crisp fried fish under a sweet-sour blanket of red onion, ají amarillo and vinegar, served cold with egg and olives
In Lima, escabeche de pescado belongs to the criollo kitchen of the old city: it turns up on Friday lunch menus, on buffet tables, and above all in Lent and Holy Week, when families eat fish and this dish can be made the day before. Fish is fried until golden, then covered in a warm sauce of thick-cut red onion softened in oil with garlic, ají amarillo, ají panca, cumin and vinegar, and left to cool so the flavours soak in. It is served cold or at room temperature with boiled sweet potato, hard-boiled egg and purple botija olives. It tastes tangy, sweet and gently fruity-hot, with crunchy onion over tender fish. The fish here is fully cooked, but because it is a cold seafood dish, pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone with weak immunity should eat it well chilled and within 2 days. Common mistake: stewing the onions until limp; they should only lose their raw bite. It is ready when the sauce has soaked a little into the fish and smells of vinegar and toasted chilli. Chef's tip: use thick fillets of corvina or bonito; thin fillets break under the sauce.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the fish
- 1 ⅓ lb firm white fish filletscorvina, cojinova, bonito or sea bass, cut into 4 thick pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 ¾ oz rice flourLima cooks use wheat flour; rice flour keeps it gluten free
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
For the escabeche
- 3 red onionscut into thick 1 cm strips
- 3 garlic clovescrushed
- 2 tbsp ají amarillo paste
- 1 tbsp ají panca paste
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup red wine vinegarat least 5% acidity
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 fresh ají amarillo or yellow chilli (optional)seeded and cut into strips
To serve
- 2 sweet potatoesboiled and sliced
- 2 eggshard-boiled and quartered
- 8 botija olivesor Kalamata olives
- 4 lettuce leaves (optional)
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Pat the 1 ⅓ lb firm white fish fillets dry, season with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper and dust lightly in 1 ¾ oz rice flour, shaking off the excess.
5 minStep 2: Heat ¾ cup vegetable oil in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat until a pinch of flour sizzles at once. Fry the fish until deep golden underneath, 3–4 minutes.
4 minStep 3: Turn and fry the second side until golden and the flesh flakes at the thickest point, 3 minutes. Lay the fish in a single layer in a glass or ceramic dish.
3 minStep 4: Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil. Over a medium heat, cook 3 garlic cloves for 30 seconds until fragrant, then stir in 2 tbsp ají amarillo paste, 1 tbsp ají panca paste, ½ tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp dried oregano and fry until the paste darkens and smells toasty, 2 minutes.
3 minStep 5: Add 3 red onions and 1 bay leaf and toss over a medium-high heat until the onions are glossy and just softened at the edges but still crunchy, 3 minutes.
3 minStep 6: Pour in ½ cup red wine vinegar and ¼ cup water, add 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and 1 fresh ají amarillo or yellow chilli if using, and boil until the sharp vinegar smell softens, 2 minutes. Taste: it should be tart, slightly sweet and well salted.
2 minStep 7: Spoon the hot escabeche over the fish to cover it completely. Cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
5 minStep 8: Serve cold or slightly cool with 2 sweet potatoes, 2 eggs, 8 botija olives and 4 lettuce leaves if using. Keep leftovers in the fridge and eat within 2–3 days (2 for vulnerable eaters); discard if it smells off or turns slimy.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 480 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 22 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
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Good to know
- How long does escabeche de pescado take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of ground black pepper?
- Black peppercorns, freshly ground, same amount.
- What can I use instead of red onions?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
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