Fish Fillets with Tomatoes Capers & Olives
Submitted by kbdb
Fish fillets with tomatoes, capers, and olives is the Veracruz-style Mexican classic: lime-marinated red snapper or halibut simmered in tomato-olive-caper sauce spiked with pickled jalapeños and warm spices.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
90 minCOOK
30 minREADY
120 minFish fillets with tomatoes, capers, and olives is the dish known across Mexico as Pescado a la Veracruzana, a coastal classic from the Gulf state of Veracruz that shows up on every restaurant table from Boca del Río to Mexico City. The combination is unmistakable: meaty white fish in a chunky tomato sauce loaded with green olives, capers, pickled jalapeños, and a warm-spice undertone of bay, cinnamon, and clove that gives away its colonial Spanish-Mediterranean roots.
The fish (boneless snapper or halibut work best) gets a quick lime-and-salt cure for an hour in the fridge, which firms the flesh and seasons it through. The sauce builds in stages: onion sweated golden, garlic tossed in for a minute, tomatoes simmered to drive off liquid, then olives, capers, jalapeños and their pickling juice, herbs, and the warm spices all join. Fish stock or clam juice loosens it back to a saucy consistency. The fillets either nestle into the sauce on the stovetop for a quick covered braise or bake under foil at 350°F (180°C). Serve with white rice to soak up every spoonful.
Pro Tips
- Don’t skip the lime-juice cure. The acid firms the fish so it doesn’t fall apart in the simmer and adds a subtle tropical brightness to the finished dish.
- Wrap the bay, cinnamon stick, and whole cloves in cheesecloth as the directions suggest. Fishing them out of a finished sauce is annoying; a sachet makes cleanup easy.
- Reserve some of the olives and capers for garnish, as the directions specify. The cooked ones meld into the sauce; the raw ones add bright pops of texture.
- Cook just until the fish flakes when pressed, no more. Overdone fish in the sauce turns dry and crumbly.
Variations
- Use cod or sea bass instead of snapper or halibut for a different white-fish character.
- Add a tablespoon of golden raisins to the sauce for a sweet-and-savory contrast common in some Veracruzano variations.
- Stir a quarter cup of dry white wine in with the tomatoes for added depth.
Ingredients
Directions
- like boneless and skinless red snapper or halibut, in 6 1½-inch thick piece.
** plus a few sprigs for garnish Rinse fillets, place them in a non-aluminum dish and sprinkle them with lime juice and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oils over medium heat, add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cut tomatoes into 1 inch pieces and place them in a bowl, collecting the juices as you go. Add garlic to onion and cook for a minute or so, then add tomatoes. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Divide olives and capers between two small bowls and set one aside to use for garnishes. To the other bowl, add jalapenos, pickling juice, marjoram, thyme and chopped parsley. If you don’t want bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and pepper in the finished sauce, wrap them in cheesecloth and tie with a string, otherwise add them directly to the olive mixture. Add the olive-herb mixture to the tomatoes, along with fish stock, clam ice or water. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, then taste, adding salt if necessary. Remove the cheesecloth bag, if using, and the bay leaves. Remove fillets from marinade and rinse. To cook on the stovetop, place them in the skillet, covering them well with sauce. Cover and cook over medium heat for 4 minutes. Turn the fillets over, cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, until they flake when pressed firmly with a fork at the thickest part. Alternatively, to bake, preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Place the fillets in a single layer in a lightly oiled baking dish . Spoon the sauce over them, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or just until the fish flakes when pressed firmly with a fork at the thickest part. Serve garnished with reserved olives, capers and parsley.
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