← Nouns Cooking · Spanish

Ingredients

• 700 g hake fillets or steaks (about 4 pieces)
• 4 tbsp mild extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 200 ml fish stock
• 1 handful large handful flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped
• 300 g Clams, scrubbed; discard any that stay open when tapped (optional)
• 100 g Peas (optional)
• ½ Lemon, cut into wedges
• Salt

Method

1. Pat the hake dry and season it lightly with salt on both sides.
2. Put the oil and garlic in a wide, shallow pan (a cazuela is ideal) over medium-low heat and cook for 2 min, until the garlic sizzles and smells sweet but is still pale.
3. Stir in the cornflour for 30 seconds, then pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the stock and most of the parsley and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. Lay the hake in the sauce, skin-side up, and scatter in the clams and peas if using. Cover and cook on low for 5–7 min, gently shaking the pan in circles now and then so the sauce turns smooth and slightly thick.
5. The fish is done when it is opaque and flakes at the thickest part, and the clams have opened (throw away any that stay shut). Scatter with the rest of the parsley and serve straight from the pan with lemon and bread.

Tips

• Swirling the pan instead of stirring keeps the fish in one piece and helps the gelatine from the fish thicken the sauce.
• Cod, haddock or monkfish all work if you cannot find hake.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Spain on a Fork The Happy Foodie