← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 600 g firm white fish fillets (snapper, cod or halibut), cut into 4 portions
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 800 g ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 80 g pitted green olives, halved
• 2 tbsp Capers, rinsed
• 3 pickled jalapeños or güero chillies, plus 2 tbsp of their brine
• 2 Bay leaves
• ½ tsp Dried oregano
• ½ tsp Dried thyme
• 2 tbsp Parsley, chopped

Method

1. Season the fish with half the salt and set aside while you make the sauce.
2. Heat the oil in a wide, deep frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5–6 min until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the tomatoes and the rest of the salt and cook for 10–12 min, stirring now and then, until they collapse into a chunky sauce.
4. Stir in the olives, capers, pickled chillies and brine, bay leaves, oregano and thyme. Simmer for 5 min so the flavours meld, then taste for salt.
5. Nestle the fish into the sauce and spoon some over the top. Cover and simmer gently for 8–10 min, until the fish is opaque and flakes easily.
6. Scatter with parsley and serve with white rice to soak up the sauce.

Tips

• Capers, olives and brine are salty, so season the sauce lightly at first and adjust at the end.
• In Veracruz a whole red snapper is often baked in this sauce; allow about 30 min at 190°C (375°F) for a 1 kg fish.

Sources

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

Mexican Food Journal ¡Hola! Jalapeño Maricruz Avalos