AI-generated image
Patarashca
Leaf-wrapped grilled fish
Patarashca: Amazonian fish wrapped with garlic, sweet pepper and sacha culantro in leaves and grilled
Wrapping fish in leaves and cooking it over embers is how the riverside towns of Loreto and San Martín have always cooked their catch, and in Iquitos patarashca is sold on Belén market grills and in the restaurants along the Malecón. A whole fish or thick fillet is smeared with garlic, ají dulce, tomato, onion, cumin and sacha culantro, folded in large bijao leaves and grilled until the parcel chars and the fish steams in its own juices. When you open it, the flesh is soft and fragrant with herbs. Banana leaves from Asian shops are the best swap for bijao; foil works at a pinch. Too thin a parcel is the usual mistake: the leaves burn through and the fish dries out, so use two layers. Chef's tip: serve it in the opened leaf with boiled plantain or cassava and spoon up every drop of the juices.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the fish
- 4 firm white fishabout 250 g each: small whole tilapia or sea bream, or thick fillets of catfish or cod
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 ½ tsp salt
For the seasoning
- 4 garlic clovescrushed
- 2 ají dulce or sweet red pepperfinely chopped
- 1 red onionthinly sliced
- 2 tomatoessliced
- ⅔ oz sacha culantro or corianderchopped
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp achiote (annatto) powderor sweet paprika
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
For wrapping
- 8 banana or bijao leaves30 cm pieces, wiped clean
- 4 pieces kitchen stringor strips of leaf
To serve
- 1 ⅓ lb boiled green plantain or cassava (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (7)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: If using whole fish, slash each side twice. Rub 4 firm white fish with 2 tbsp lime juice and 1 ½ tsp salt and keep in the fridge while you make the seasoning.
Step 2: Mash 4 garlic cloves, 2 ají dulce or sweet red pepper, ⅔ oz sacha culantro or coriander, ½ tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp achiote (annatto) powder and 2 tbsp vegetable oil into a rough green paste.
Step 3: Pass 8 banana or bijao leaves briefly over a gas flame or a hot pan until they turn shiny and supple, so they fold without splitting.
Step 4: Lay two leaves crosswise for each parcel. Put a fish in the middle, spread with the paste, top with 1 red onion and 2 tomatoes, fold the leaves tightly and tie with 4 pieces kitchen string.
Step 5: Grill the parcels over medium coals or in a griddle pan over a medium heat, turning once, until the leaves are charred and the fish inside is opaque and flakes when tested with a knife through the leaf. Alternatively bake at 400°F for about 25 minutes.
22 minStep 6: Rest for 2 minutes, then open at the table and serve with 1 ⅓ lb boiled green plantain or cassava.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 280 kcal
- Protein
- 40 g
- Carbs
- 7 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does patarashca take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 20 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.
- What can I use instead of lime juice?
- Lemon juice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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
All i pebreEel and potato paprika stew
In El Palmar and the other villages around the Albufera lagoon south of Valencia, the restaurants that are famous for paella serve something older first: all i pebre, "garlic and pepper", a brick-red stew of lagoon eel and potatoes thickened with a pounded almond and fried-bread picada. It is rich, garlicky and gently hot, eaten with bread to mop up the sauce. Ask your fishmonger to skin and cut the eel, and handle it with gloves: raw eel blood is irritating, though harmless once cooked. If you can't find eel, monkfish or hake works well. A common mistake is letting the paprika burn; it turns bitter in seconds, so add it off the heat. Chef's tip: break the potatoes with a knife instead of cutting cleanly; the rough edges release starch and thicken the sauce.
Spanish
Midia saganakiMussels with tomato and feta
Thessaloniki is Greece's mussel capital, with farms in the Thermaic Gulf a few kilometres from the seafront ouzeries where this two-handled pan arrives, still bubbling, at the table. Mussels steam open in a quick sauce of peppers, tomato and chilli, and crumbled feta melts into the juices at the end. Bread is essential. The classic version adds a splash of ouzo; this one is alcohol-free, using a pinch of fennel seed for that aniseed note (add 2 tbsp ouzo with the tomatoes if you like). Common mistake: overcooking — take the pan off the heat as soon as the shells open. Chef's tip: buy mussels on the day and keep them in the fridge in a bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water.
Greek
Moreton Bay bugsSlipper lobster with garlic butter
Moreton Bay bugs are the flat, shovel-nosed slipper lobsters caught off the Queensland coast around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and for Queenslanders they are a summer treat, split and grilled at the beach house. The tail meat is sweet and rich, somewhere between lobster and prawn. Buy them raw, frozen or fresh, from a fishmonger and ask them to halve them if you like. A common mistake is overcooking, which makes the meat rubbery; it is ready the moment it turns white. Chef's tip: grill flesh side down first to mark it, then turn and baste in the shell.
Australian