The only fish I ever ate while growing up was the heavily battered, deliciously crunchy fried fish at Luby’s Cafeteria in El Paso, Texas. So it stands to reason that I never learned to cook fish either. In fact until recently, I was reluctant to cook fish at home. Hilario Fernandez, the chef at Zarela, cooked it so beautifully that, if I wanted fish, I’d eat at the restaurant.
Once the restaurant closed and I started working on my selections of Delitefully Mexican food, I had no choice but to do it. I started cooking fish fillets “blackened” a la Paul Prudhomme (recipe coming) and that is still one of my favorite quick, light, and healthy meals. But I love whole fish and my first tries were not successful — they were either over- or undercooked. Now I’ve learned the secret. I get a 2-pound fish, preheat the oven to 400°F, rub a spice mixture or paste on the fish and cook for 20 minutes. It works like a charm on sea bass, red snapper, or branzino.
Roasted Fish with Chile-Water (Pescado asado con agua-chile)
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt plus additional to season the fish and sauce
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 4 canned chipotle chiles in adobo
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pound whole fish such as sea bass, red snapper, or branzino
- ¼ cup cold water
- the juice of one lime
- 2 jalapeño chiles or to taste tops removed but not seeded, coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup chopped or sliced white onions
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- In the food processor make a paste with the garlic, salt and oregano.
- With the machine running, add chipotle chiles and olive oil and process until smooth.
- Wash and thoroughly dry the fish with paper towels. Make three slanted cuts on the thick part of each side and rub the fish with salt. Brush or spread the chipotle paste on both sides. Place in a roasting pan and cook for 20 minutes.
- While the fish is cooking, make the sauce. Combine the water, lime juice, jalapeño chiles, cilantro leaves, and white onions in a small bowl.
- As soon as the fish is ready, transfer it to a serving platter and pour the sauce over it and serve immediately.
