Pescado al Ajillo

The fillets floured before they go in, because a bare fillet sticks and breaks and the sauce has nothing to hold on to.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 4 firm white fish fillets, about 180 g each, skin on
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 10 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 2 guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed, in rings
• 80 ml olive oil
• 30 g butter
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. THE FILLETS ARE FLOURED BEFORE THEY GO IN, and it solves two problems at once. A bare fish fillet in a pan of hot garlic oil welds itself to the metal within seconds and then tears in half when the spatula goes under it -- the protein bonds directly to the pan. A thin coat of flour sits between the two and the fillet releases cleanly. And the flour that comes off into the oil thickens it very slightly, so the garlic sauce clings to the fish instead of sliding off into a puddle. Without it the fish is broken and the sauce is loose, which are the two faults this dish usually has.
2. THE FLOUR GOES ON DRY AND THE EXCESS IS KNOCKED OFF. Patted on both sides and then the fillet shaken. A thick coat goes pasty in the oil and tastes of raw flour; what is wanted is barely a dusting, enough to turn the surface matt.
3. THE GARLIC IS COOKED AND LIFTED OUT BEFORE THE FISH GOES IN. Fish needs three or four minutes a side; sliced garlic burns in rather less than that at the same heat. So the garlic is fried pale gold in the oil, scooped out with a slotted spoon onto paper, the fish cooked in the flavoured oil, and the garlic returned at the very end. This is the step the prawn version does not need, because prawns take two minutes.
4. IT IS SKIN SIDE DOWN FIRST AND NOT MOVED. Four minutes without touching it. The skin crisps and releases on its own; nudged or lifted to check, it tears and sticks.
5. THE PAN IS NOT CROWDED AND IT IS DONE IN TWO BATCHES IF NEEDED. Four fillets in a domestic pan touch each other, and where they touch they steam rather than fry. Two at a time, kept warm in a low oven, and both batches are better than one crowded one.
6. The fish patted completely dry and seasoned with the salt and pepper.
7. The olive oil warmed in a wide pan over a medium heat.
8. The SLICED garlic added and cooked gently 2 to 3 MINUTES until pale gold, then LIFTED OUT with a slotted spoon onto paper.
9. The guajillo rings given 30 seconds in the oil and lifted out with the garlic.
10. The fillets dusted with the flour on both sides and the EXCESS KNOCKED OFF.
11. THE HEAT TURNED UP to medium-high.
12. Two fillets laid in SKIN SIDE DOWN and NOT MOVED for 4 MINUTES, until the skin is crisp and releases on its own.
13. TURNED and given 2 to 3 MINUTES, until just opaque at the thickest part.
14. Lifted out and kept warm; the second two cooked the same way.
15. The pan taken OFF THE HEAT, the butter and lime juice stirred in, and the garlic and chilli RETURNED to it.
16. Spooned over the fillets with all the oil, the parsley scattered on, and served at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes