Escabche
Photography by Aaron McLean.
‘Escabèche’ is a spicy, cold marinade used to preserve cooked foods and found widely throughout the Mediterranean and Latin America. Fish and seafood is first cooked then marinated for several hours or overnight in a lightly spiced dressing that works well with most firm fleshed white fish, tuna, squid, mussels and octopus.
Serves: 4–6
INGREDIENTS
800 grams firm white fish, such as gurnard, monkfish, snapper or terakihi
1 cup plain flour
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
4 parsley stalks, leaves reserved
1 long red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon each fennel and coriander seeds
3 small bay leaves
¾ cup orange juice
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
METHOD
Fish: Cut the fish into 10 cm pieces and season. Heat a little olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the fish until lightly golden and just cooked through. Place in a shallow dish large enough to hold the fillets in one layer.
Dressing: Put the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat and add all the ingredients up to and including the bay leaves. Season and cook until the vegetables are crisp tender but not coloured. Add the orange juice, vinegar and honey and simmer for 1 minute. Season.
Carefully spoon the vegetables and dressing over the fish, cool then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 2 days.
To serve: Remove the fish from the fridge one hour before serving. Transfer to a serving dish and scatter with flat-leaf parsley and the reserved fennel fronds. Serve with a warm crusty loaf for mopping up the juices. Serves 4-6
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