Category Archives: Fish and Seafood

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

Fish and Seafood, Soups and Stews

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, Meat and Poultry

Paella Alicantina

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

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

Tortillitas de Camaron

Little Shrimp Fritters — Tortillitas de Camarón

  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • dash of cayenne
  • 2 T parsley
  • oil for frying
  • 1/2 lb shrimp
  • 1/2 lb flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups water
  • 4 T white wine

Mix onion and chopped parsley with chopped shrimp. Add flour and baking powder, then stir in water and wine to make a heavy batter. Season with salt and cayenne. Cover and chill in fridge for 3 hours. Heat oil and drop in teaspoonfuls of batter. Fry until golden brown. Drain and serve. hot.

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

Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish is poached minced fish appetizer popular on Jewish holidays but also eaten year-round.

Gert Cohen’s Gefilte Fish

  • 4 lbs. fish fillets
  • head and skin of fish
  • 5 onions
  • 4 t salt
  • 1-1/2 t pepper
  • 1 t sugar
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 5-1/2 cups water
  • 3 T cracker meal
  • 2 sliced carrots

Grind fish and onion together. Place in wooden bowl. Add 2 t salt, 3/4 t pepper, sugar, eggs, 1/2 cup water and cracker meal. Chop well. Place head and skin of fish in pot. Add rest of onion, carrots, water, salt and pepper. Boil.

Shape chopped fish into 2″ balls. Drop into boiling broth. Cover and cook 1-1/2 hours. Remove fish balls. Strain and chill stock until jellied. Serve gefilte fish balls and jelly with horseradish.

Vegetarian Gefilte Fish

3 medium potatoes, peeled
2 medium onions, finely chopped
vegetable oil for frying
1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
2 T chopped fresh parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
paprika
matzo meal as required

Get the preparation instructions for vegetarian version of Gefilte Fish from http://www.jewishfood-list.com/recipes/fish/gfish/gfishveg01.html

 

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!

Appetizers, Fish and Seafood

Ceviche Acapulco Style

Ceviche is a delicious white fish marinated in lime juice, Acapulco style.

Ceviche is made throughout Latin America, and there are many styles, although all involve marinating (or “cooking”) raw fish in lime or lemon juice. Historians claim that ceviche originated in the coastal regions of Peru and was spread during colonial times to other parts of the Americas.

Acapulco-style ceviche is typically made with chopped tomatoes, onion, chile peppers, and fresh coriander leaves. This particular version also includes optional olives, garlic, and parsley.

Fish by Stella, 2010

Ingredients for Acapulco-style Ceviche

  • 1 lb. white fish such as dorado (mahi-mahi)
  • Lemon or lime juice
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T parsley, chopped
  • 4 T coriander leaves, chopped
  • 2 T green olives, chopped
  • 1 small clove garlic, crushed
  • salt

Cut fish into small cubes or strips. Cover with lemon or lime juice. Refrigerate for 6 hours or more, turning occasionally to make sure all the fish is immersed well in the juice. Drain and rinse slightly under cold water to remove excess lemon juice.

Combine tomato, onion, chile peppers, olive oil, parsley, coriander, olives, garlic and salt. Pour over fish. Allow to sit in fridge, covered, for at least 1 hour before serving.

Serve with crackers or tostadas (tortilla chips).

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