Recipes

Sautéed Snapper with Lime Cream Sauce

Sautéed Snapper with Lime Cream Sauce

Huachinango con Crema de Limón
Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa on the Pacific coast in the state of Guerrero, are popular seaside get-aways only 4 miles apart. Zihuatanejo, with its wide bay, has a long history as a trading port. In the early 1500s, Spanish ships loaded timber and other products in the harbor to be sent to Asia via the Philippines, and returning vessels carried spices, rice, fabrics, and the first coconut palms from the Philippines. Ixtapa was developed in the 1970s to be a luxurious vacation destination with a string of resort hotels along a stretch of beautiful white beaches.Fish fillets with rich lime cream sauce is a modern dish from the dining room of the Sheraton-Ixtapa hotel
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200°.
  • Season the snapper fillets with salt.
  • Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat.
  • Cook the fish about 3 minutes per side or until it is golden brown on the outside, opaque but still moist inside, and just barely flakes when tested with a fork.
  • Transfer to a platter.
  • Keep warm in the oven.
  • Melt the butter in the same skillet and cook the onions, garlic, cilantro, and chile over medium-heat until wilted and fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • Add the broth and cream.
  • Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until the sauce reduces and thickens, about 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the lime juice.
  • Adjust salt.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve the fish hot, with the sauce spooned on top.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Sautéed Snapper Fillets with Banana Salsa

Sautéed Snapper Fillets with Banana Salsa

Huachinango con Salsa de Plátano
Fresh Pacific snapper or other fish fillets go very well with a salsa made of ripe bananas. The sweetness of the bananas is balanced by the tartness of lime juice. Crunchy red bell pepper and spicy serrano chile add contrast and texture, and fresh mint adds a refreshing note to the salsa. I like to serve this unusual combination with black beans. The beans can be cooked a day ahead and reheated. A plate of crisp raw vegetables such as cucumbers, radishes, and carrots are a good addition to the meal.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

  • Prepare the banana salsa.
  • Cover and refrigerate.
  • (The salsa is best made no more than 1 hour before serving.
  • )
  • Heat the oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet and fry the fish 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown on the outside and opaque but still moist inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Sprinkle with parsley and serve with the banana salsa.
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Course; Fish / Fruit
Cuisine; Mexican

Sautéed Snapper Fillets in Tomato and Mushroom Sauce

Sautéed Snapper Fillets in Tomato and Mushroom Sauce

Huachinango Entomatado
Chef Francisco Cisneros of Guaymas restaurant in Tiburon, California, shared this recipe. The restaurant offers fresh seafood dishes from Guaymas, Mexico, a fishing village on the Sea of Cortez. Serve the fish over cooked white rice.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

  • ½ cup Basic Fish Stock or canned chicken broth
  • ½ cup Tomato–Jalapeño Chile Butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 6- to 7-ounce snapper fillets, each about 3⁄4-inch thick
  • ½ medium white onion thinly sliced
  • 1 medium garlic clove finely chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano Mexican variety preferred, crumbled
  • 8 medium mushrooms thinly sliced
  • 1 medium tomato seeded and finely chopped
  • ½ green bell pepper cut into thin strips
  • Cilantro sprigs
  • Lime wedges

Instructions

  • Prepare the fish stock if using homemade.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the tomato-chile butter.
  • Then, preheat the oven to 375°.
  • Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the fish about 2 minutes per side or until it is lightly browned, but not cooked through.
  • Transfer the fish to an ovenproof baking dish and finish cooking in the oven until the fish is opaque but still moist inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in the same skillet, cook the onion over medium heat until it softens, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the garlic and oregano.
  • Cook 1 minute.
  • Add remaining ingredients.
  • Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat 3 minutes more.
  • Stir in the reserved tomato-chile butter and continue to cook about 2 to 3 minutes more, or until the sauce thickens slightly.
  • To serve, place 1 fish fillet on each of 4 plates.
  • Spoon the cooked sauce over the fish on each plate.
  • Garnish the plates with cilantro and lime wedges.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Sautéed Red Snapper with Mushrooms

Sautéed Red Snapper with Mushrooms

Huachinango con Hongos
I enjoyed this dish during lunch with friends in a small seaside restaurant along the Pacific coast near Puerto Vallarta. The cook had made good use of fresh mushrooms that were available at the public market, and even though mushrooms are not a basic food in the region, modern Puerto Vallarta has ingredients from everywhere. If you like mushrooms, you'll love this dish. Any firm white fish fillets, such as rock cod, sea bass, or even halibut, may be substituted for the snapper; the freshest being the best choice.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, blend together with a fork the butter, jalapeños, tomato paste, and cilantro to make a paste.
  • Season the fish with the salt and pepper.
  • Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the fish 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown on the outside and opaque but still moist inside when tested with a fork.
  • Remove the fish to a platter, cover, and reserve.
  • To the same skillet add the onion, mushrooms, scallions, and garlic.
  • Cook, stirring, 2 minutes over high heat.
  • Stir in the butter mixture, and add the broth.
  • Continue cooking over high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, about 2 minutes.
  • Adjust seasoning.
  • Add the fresh tomato and heat through, about 1 minute.
  • Spoon the sauce over the fish.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Red Snapper Veracruzana

Red Snapper Veracruzana

Huachinango Veracruzana
The state of Veracruz is long and thin with a coastline of more than 400 miles along the Gulf of Mexico. Inland, the mountains predominate. From the foothills come vanilla, coffee, apples, and pears. Citrus and bananas grow in abundance in the coastal lowlands. There is great variety, but it's the seafood that first comes to mind when thinking about the foods of Veracruz.Red snapper prepared in the Veracruz style, is a favorite all over Mexico. The flavors of capers, green olives, and olive oil reflect the Spanish influence in this famous dish, which is often prepared with a whole fish as well as individual fillets. Jalapeño chiles, originally from the area around Jalapa, the capital of the state of Veracruz, add their spicy taste to the dish. Many Mexican cooks prefer large capers to small ones. You may use either kind. If red snapper is not available, other white fish fillets, such as Pacific snapper or rock cod, can be substituted
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

  • 4 skinless red snapper or other white fish fillets about 1½ pounds
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium white onion chopped
  • 3 medium garlic cloves minced
  • 3 medium ripe tomatoes peeled and chopped
  • 4 jarred pickled jalapeño chiles en escabeche, seeded and cut in strips, 1/8-inch wide
  • 8 pimento-stuffed green olives sliced crosswise
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano Mexican variety preferred, crumbled
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon Mexican canela or Ceylon cinnamon preferred
  • 2 tablespoons drained capers large or small
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

  • Place fish fillets in a single row on a large plate.
  • Sprinkle with lime juice and salt.
  • Let stand about 10 minutes.
  • In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
  • Add the fish and cook 2 minutes per side.
  • Remove to a plate.
  • In the same pan, cook the onion stirring, about 3 minutes, or until it begins to brown.
  • Add the garlic and cook, stirring, about 1 minute.
  • Add the tomatoes, jalapeños, olives, cinnamon, oregano, and capers.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat to low.
  • Carefully return the fish to the pan and gently spoon the sauce over the fish.
  • Simmer until the fish is opaque inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork, 6 to 8 minutes.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Baked Whole Snapper

Baked Whole Snapper

Huachinango al Horno
Serving a large whole fish is always dramatic. In Mexico's coastal cities the fish vendors, an integral part of public markets, always have whole fish. North of the border you may have to order whole fish from a good fish market. I find that red snapper, Pacific snapper, or rockfish are good choices for baked fish, but any whole fish that you like or that is available works in this recipe. Have the fishmonger scale and clean the fish. Serve with Mexican Rice.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450°.
  • Line a large rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil.
  • Brush foil with oil.
  • Make 4 crosswise slashes to the bone on each side of the fish.
  • In a bowl, the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, wine, and ¼ cup of oil until smooth.
  • Rub the mixture all over the inside and outside of the fish.
  • Lay the fish on the foil in the baking pan.
  • Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.
  • Uncover and bake until the top browns a little, another 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and let the fish stand 8 to 10 minutes.
  • It can be somewhat awkward to remove the fish from the pan without it splitting, so serve from the pan, if you wish.
  • Or use 2 wide spatulas to carefully lift the fish onto a large platter.
  • Remove the top skin, if desired, by inserting the knife blade under the skin to lift gently off.
  • (The skin will separate easily from the cooked fish.
  • ) Using two forks, separate the fish into portions and serve with lime wedges.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Whole Trout Baked in Foil

Whole Trout Baked in Foil

Trucha Empapelada
Cooking foods in foil is very popular in Mexico, for both home cooks and chefs. Instead of the classic way of wrapping and steaming in corn husks or banana leaves, or leaves from the maguey plant, foil offers an alternative that's quicker and easier. The aromas and flavors of the real leaves may be missing, but foods cooked in foil are aromatic, juicy, and very delicious. Fish is exceptionally good cooked this way. Whole trout from a fish market are already cleaned and weigh about 1 pound.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

  • 4 whole scaled and cleaned trout about 1 pound each, rinsed
  • Salt to taste
  • 4 medium tomatoes cored and sliced
  • ½ cup thinly sliced white onion
  • 2 jalapeño chiles seeded, veins removed, and sliced into thin strips
  • 12 fresh epazote leaves or substitute fresh cilantro sprigs
  • 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
  • 4 teaspoons dry white wine

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Lay out 4 pieces of 12-inch-long foil, each large enough to completely wrap 1 fish.
  • Season each fish inside and out with salt.
  • Lay 1 fish in the center of each piece of foil.
  • Layer the tomatoes, onion, chiles, and epazote evenly among the fish.
  • Put 1 teaspoon butter on top of each.
  • Drizzle 1 teaspoon of wine over each fish.
  • Fold the foil over the fish and crimp the edges to make a snug package.
  • Put the 4 packages on a baking sheet and cook in the center of the oven 22 to 25 minutes, or until the fish is opaque inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork.
  • (Test one for doneness.
  • Reclose to serve.
  • )

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot in the foil packages.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Fish, Shrimp, and Oysters Baked in Packages

Fish, Shrimp, and Oysters Baked in Packages

Pez Torre
Chef Joaquim Ocampo Castillo, of Casa Vieja in Tlaquepaque on the outskirts of Guadalajara, shared this wonderful recipe. We made our first visit to the region more than thirty years ago, and we still join the throngs of visitors who enjoy the locally made folk art, modern art, ceramics, jewelry, and crafts of all kinds. Many shops and restaurants are conveniently located along the pedestrian-only street through the center of town, so rest and sustenance in a number of good restaurants are only steps away. Casa Vieja is one of our favorites.
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450°.
  • Lay out 4 pieces of 12-inch-long aluminum foil on a work surface.
  • Coat the center of each piece of foil with about 1 teaspoon butter.
  • Place about 6 tomato slices, overlapping, on each piece of foil and continue to layer all remaining ingredients, evenly divided, on top of each other on the foil in the order listed.
  • Fold the foil together for each, crimping the edges to seal into snug packages.
  • Place on a baking sheet and cook about 15 to 18 minutes, or until the fish is opaque but still moist inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork.
  • (Test one for doneness.
  • Reclose to serve.
  • )

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot, in the package.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican

Snapper Fillets in Packages

Snapper Fillets in Packages

Huachinango Empapelado
Sealing food in packages is an easy way to lock in flavors and keep food moist and is an age-old method of cooking in different regions of Mexico. This recipe for fish baked in a package comes from the beautiful San Angel Inn in Mexico City. Serve with Mexican Rice. Green Beans with Mushrooms also go well with the fis
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Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450°.
  • Lay 4 (12-inch-long) pieces of aluminum foil on a flat surface.
  • Rub about ½ teaspoon of butter in the center of each piece.
  • On ½ of each piece, evenly distribute the tomatoes, onion, serranos, and cilantro.
  • Lay 1 fish fillet on top of the vegetables.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Drizzle each fillet with ¼ teaspoon of olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of wine.
  • Fold over the foil and crimp the edges to make a tight seal.
  • Place the packages on a large baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until fish is opaque but still moist inside and just barely flakes when tested with a fork.
  • (Test one for doneness.
  • Reclose to serve.
  • ) Lay a closed package on each of 4 serving plates to be opened at the table.

Notes & Wine Advice

Serve hot.
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Course; Fish
Cuisine; Mexican