Huachinango a la Veracruzana (Veracruz-Style Red Snapper)
My memory of Veracruz is sitting in a bar enjoying oyster shooters. I was 10 years old, my dad’s shooters were served with Tequila. Veracruz Mexico is located due east of Mexico City at the Gulf of Mexico. The city was the first European settlement established in the Americas. It’s where Hernan Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, arrived in 1519. Though this dish is a fusion of indigenous ingredients (fish, tomato, chile) and flavored with European condiments (olives, capers), it’s core identity in looks and flavors is truly Mexican.
Traditionally, the dish is prepared and served with the entire fish but also commonly made with fillets of fish. Any white firm fish works – your choice. I happened to find this beauty of a Red Snapper at our weekly Saturday farmers market with no real idea how to prepare it at the time. This recipe yields wonderful flavors that make you want to keep eating the sauce. Let’s get started.
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 ½ lbs of fish fillets or a 2 ½ lbs whole snapper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 chile gueros (yellow) or serranos, veins removed and cut in thin slivers
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz can whole tomato, hand crushed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry oregano crushed
1 tablespoon lime juice
⅓ cup whole pimiento stuffed green olives – halved
Salt and pepper
Preparation
Sauce
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion, sauté until soft and transparent. Add garlic and chile slivers, sauté 1 minute, Add tomatoes with juice, salt, oregano and lime juice. Cover, simmer 10 minutes. Stir in olives and capers (which are salty) then taste for salt and pepper for taste.
Whole Fish
Use a roasting pan with lid and heat the oven to 350ºF. Rinse the fish, dry, slightly oil all sides and lightly salt and pepper inside and out. Spread the sauce in the bottom of the roasting pan, stir in ½ cup of water, and set the fish over the sauce . Scoop part of the sauce to cover the fish. Cook for 30 minutes or until fish reaches 145ºF degrees. Serve hot.
Fillets of Fish
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Add seasoned fillets. cooking for 1 ½ minutes each side… Set the fillets aside then remove any excess oil. Add ½ cup of water and stir the bottom to loosen any brown bits. Return the fillets to the pan add the sauce over the fish and simmer for about 5 minutes or until fillets are cooked. Serve hot.
Notes
Canned tomatoes saves time in preparation; fresh tomatoes enhances the flavor. There are many versions of this recipe. Many use pickled jalapeño and guero (yellow) chiles and a variety of herbs such as thyme, parsley and marjoram.
Buen Provecho
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