AI-generated image
Pastel de chucho
Pastel de chucho: Margarita's layered bake of stingray, ripe plantain and cheese
VenezuelanOn Margarita island, pastel de chucho is the pride of fishing villages like Juan Griego and El Tirano, and a fixture of Holy Week: shredded stingray (chucho) cooked in a rich sofrito, layered with fried ripe plantain and white cheese and set with beaten egg. Stingray can be hard to find and is not always sustainable, so a firm white fish such as hake, pollock or responsibly caught skate wing works well. The common mistake is a watery sofrito, which makes the bake soggy. Chef's tip: cook the fish sofrito until the pan is almost dry before layering.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the fish
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground annatto (onoto)
- 2 onionsfinely chopped
- 1 red pepperfinely chopped
- 6 ají dulce (sweet chilli peppers)chopped
- 4 cloves garliccrushed
- 3 spring onionssliced
- 3 tomatoeschopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For the layers
- 4 very ripe plantainsblack-skinned
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 7 oz hard white cheesegrated
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ oz butter
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (10)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Rub 1 ¾ lb stingray (chucho) or firm white fish such as hake with 2 tbsp lime juice and poach it in simmering water for 10–12 minutes, until it is opaque and flakes easily. Drain, cool and shred, removing all skin, bones or cartilage.
20 minStep 2: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil with 1 tsp ground annatto (onoto) and fry 2 onions, 1 red pepper, 6 ají dulce (sweet chilli peppers), 4 cloves garlic and 3 spring onions for 10 minutes. Add 3 tomatoes, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 ½ tsp salt and cook for 8 minutes.
18 minStep 3: Stir in the fish and cook, stirring, for 8–10 minutes, until the mixture is moist but no liquid runs when you tilt the pan.
10 minStep 4: Peel 4 very ripe plantains, slice lengthwise 1 cm thick and fry in ½ cup vegetable oil for 3 minutes a side, until golden. Drain.
15 minStep 5: Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 25 × 20 cm dish with ½ oz butter. Layer plantain, half the fish and a third of 2 ⅜ oz hard white cheese; repeat, then finish with plantain.
10 minStep 6: Whisk 3 eggs and ½ cup whole milk, pour over, and scatter the remaining 2 ¼ oz hard white cheese. Bake for 35 minutes, until set and golden. Rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
45 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 470 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 38 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pastel de chucho take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 50 minutes to prepare and 70 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 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.
- What can I use instead of lime juice?
- Lemon juice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Singapore chilli crab
Chilli crab was first sold from a pushcart on the Kallang river in the 1950s and is now the dish visitors queue for along Singapore's East Coast seafood strip. Big mud crabs are cut up, wok-fried and simmered in a thick, sweet, tangy and gently hot sauce of chilli, tomato and garlic, which is then silked with beaten egg. Everyone eats with their hands and mops up the sauce with fried or steamed mantou buns. It is a weekend or celebration meal, messy and loud. Buy crabs live or freshly cooked the same day from a fishmonger you trust. Discard any live crab that doesn't move, smells of ammonia or has a cracked, leaking shell. The common mistake is boiling the sauce after adding the egg, which scrambles it into lumps; pour it in a thin stream over a low heat. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to clean and quarter the crab for you, and crack each claw lightly with the back of a cleaver so the sauce soaks in.
Singaporean
Chraime
Friday night in Moroccan and Libyan Jewish homes, from Casablanca to Tripoli and now Paris and Tel Aviv, often begins with a plate of chraime before the main course. Thick fish steaks simmer in a brick-red sauce built from a frightening amount of garlic, sweet and hot paprika, chilli, caraway and cumin, loosened with oil and a squeeze of lemon. It is spicy, garlicky and very savoury, and the oily sauce begs to be mopped up with challah or other good bread. It is also eaten cold the next day. Chef's tip: cook the spices in the oil over a low heat until they smell toasty but not dark; burnt paprika tastes acrid and you cannot rescue it.
Moroccan
Dulce de lechosa
No Venezuelan Christmas plate is complete without a spoonful of dulce de lechosa beside the hallaca, pan de jamón and ensalada de gallina: strips of green papaya simmered in a dark panela syrup with cinnamon and cloves until translucent, sweet and gently chewy. Families make big jars in mid-December to share. The common mistake is cutting the strips too thin, so they fall apart in the syrup. Chef's tip: soak the strips in water with bicarbonate for 30 minutes first; it firms them so they keep their shape.
