Fish to size, recipe step by step
Fish to size is a culinary specialty of the Mexican coast, particularly popular in states such as Guerrero or Nayarit.
Commonly, red snapper or sea bass are used to prepare this recipe, although it is also possible prepare fish to size with other species, such as dorado.
How to prepare fish to size
In short, fish to size is a type of fish on the grill, previously seasoned with a chilli sauce.
Photo: Flickr, Creative Commons License, by Sparta Palma.
Recipe for fish to size
Cooking recipe to prepare, step by step , a fish to the traditional size and very coastal.Then we will remove the seeds and the remains of branches.
To cook them, we will heat a pot with water. Once the liquid is boiling, add the chilies and cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, we will take the time to peel garlic cloves. We will also peel a small onion and chop it into irregular pieces, to quickly sauté it in a pan, with a little oil. We can do the same with garlic cloves.
After 10 minutes of cooking of the chiles, we will pass them to a blender with a little bit of the water with which we have boiled them, the vinegar, the cloves of garlic, the onion and a little touch of salt, cumin and pepper.
Heat a pan and pour the sauce. We will cook between 5 and 10 minutes, which is necessary to evaporate a little liquid and take a more doughy consistency. Then, we will reserve it.
We will wash the fish well under a stream of water. This must already be clean of scales, entrails and open in butterfly.
Dry the Fish and sprinkle a little salt. Cover the side of the meat with the guajillo chilli sauce that we just prepared.
Place the fish on a charcoal grill (with the latter already on). You can help with a shaker or with aluminum foil as a support and cover for the fish. It is important to leave the face of the skin and scales towards the fire or embers. The part with the meat and the sauce should be facing upwards. Make sure the fish is not too close to the embers so it does not burn.
Cook in this way for 20 minutes, under constant supervision.
Then , turn very carefully so that the inside of the fish cooks (the face with the meat). Before turning it over, you can add a little butter on the meat, to keep it well hydrated (this is totally optional, but highly recommended).
Cook for 20 more minutes, with constant supervision. Remember that multiple factors can interfere with the cooking on the grill: the size of the fish, the proximity to the embers, the totally irregular temperatures of the grills, the quality of the coal and a long etcetera.
Once the grilling is finished, the fish is ready to serve. You can accompany it with slices or a julienne of white or purple onion, potatoes on the grill, a mixture of vegetables or a salad of lettuce and tomato. Of course, do not forget to leave some pieces or slices of lemon by hand.
Tips for a fish to the perfect size
- The ideal thing is to ask the fish shop to sell us a fish already cut in a butterfly. For them, doing this operation is a matter of minutes.For example, you can use a combination of wide chili, pasilla and guajillo, in equal amounts.
- Some people use a quarter or half of a cube of dehydrated chicken broth to give the fish more flavor. I do not like to do it, because I feel that it modifies the natural flavors of the recipe, but the option exists and the result looks good.
- In some parts of Mexico, a little mayonnaise is added to prepare the fish to size. It is enough to add three tablespoons of mayonnaise to the mixture, after having passed through the pan. I confess that fish to the size with mayonnaise is my favorite version of this recipe (and probably also the most caloric version).
- If you come to light the coal, let out the first smoke before starting to cook the fish to size. To keep the fish from smoking, you can place pieces of wood on the coals.
If you liked this fish recipe, do not miss our recipe for shaken fish. p>
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