Chef Isabel
Aceitunas Aliñadas Andaluzas
Andalucía's green olives are cracked just enough to drink in garlic, cumin, oregano and sherry vinegar, then left two days until the brine turns fragrant and every bite carries the aliño.
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Bonito en Escabeche Riojano
Created by
Riojan bonito en escabeche is gently poached albacore steeped for two days in olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, bay and pimentón, a make-ahead dish whose flavour improves while you leave it alone.
Sauces & Condiments
Spanish
Make Ahead
Batch Cooking
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
35 min cook•24 hr 55 min total
Yield6 servings
Bonito en escabeche is Riojan, an inland treatment of the northern bonito del norte that reached La Rioja from the Cantabrian coast. The fish is poached first, then rested beneath a cooked escabeche of olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, bay, onion, and pimentón. That red-gold marinade and its wine-vinegar bite give the dish its Riojan footing.
The poach decides it. Keep the water at a bare tremble and remove the bonito as soon as it is cooked through, because the acid firms it again during the rest. Boil it hard and two days in vinegar will finish the mischief. Pour the escabeche over while warm, refrigerate it, and leave it alone for a day or two. The oil carries the pimentón and garlic into the broad flakes while the vinegar keeps the whole thing bright.
Outside Spain, ask for fresh albacore tuna. It is the same fish sold under its market name, and no compromise at all. If you cannot find it, use a thick yellowfin loin; it will be darker, firmer, and less delicate, but it takes the escabeche well. Don't begin with canned tuna, because it has already had its cooking and will fall apart. The Margin beside this recipe says only: gentle water, patient vinegar. Follow those two things and it comes out.
Bonito en escabeche belongs to La Rioja's inland table, where fish from the Cantabrian coast travelled south into the Ebro valley and vinegar helped it last after arrival. Escabeche takes its name from the Arabic al-sikbaj, a vinegar-seasoned preparation carried into Iberian cooking and adapted to local fish and oils. In the Riojan version, wine vinegar and pimentón give pale bonito a red-gold marinade suited to the region's wine-growing larder.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bonito del norte (fresh albacore) loin
Quantity
700g
skinless and boneless, bloodline trimmed, cut into 4cm-thick pieces
water
Quantity
1.5 litres
fine sea salt, for poaching
Quantity
24g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
175ml
onion
Quantity
180g
thinly sliced
carrot
Quantity
100g
peeled and cut into thin coins
garlic
Quantity
6 cloves
unpeeled and lightly crushed
bay leaves
Quantity
2
black peppercorns
Quantity
3g (about 1 teaspoon)
sweet pimentón
Quantity
3g (about 1 teaspoon)
white wine vinegar
Quantity
150ml
dry white Rioja wine
Quantity
125ml
fine sea salt, for the escabeche
Quantity
5g
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bonito del norte (fresh albacore) loinskinless and boneless, bloodline trimmed, cut into 4cm-thick pieces | 700g |
| water | 1.5 litres |
| fine sea salt, for poaching | 24g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 175ml |
| onionthinly sliced | 180g |
| carrotpeeled and cut into thin coins | 100g |
| garlicunpeeled and lightly crushed | 6 cloves |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| black peppercorns | 3g (about 1 teaspoon) |
| sweet pimentón | 3g (about 1 teaspoon) |
| white wine vinegar | 150ml |
| dry white Rioja wine | 125ml |
| fine sea salt, for the escabeche | 5g |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide stainless-steel saucepan, about 3 litres
- •Nonreactive sauté pan, 24cm
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Slotted fish spatula
- •Lidded glass or glazed ceramic container, about 1.5 litres
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the bonito
Check the bonito carefully for skin, bones, and the dark bloodline, which can make the finished escabeche taste harsh. Cut the loin into pieces about 4cm thick and leave them at room temperature for 15 minutes while you heat the poaching water.
Bonito del norte is albacore tuna. Ask for a thick loin rather than thin steaks, because thin pieces dry before the centre is properly cooked. - 2
Poach it gently
Combine the water and 24g salt in a wide saucepan. Bring it just below a simmer, about 80 to 85°C, then lower in the bonito. Keep the water at a quiet tremble and poach for 6 to 9 minutes, removing each piece when its centre reaches 63°C. Do not boil it. The vinegar will firm the fish further as it rests, so a hard poach now gives you dry bonito two days later.
- 3
Drain without breaking
Lift out the bonito with a slotted spatula and set it on a plate to drain. Let it cool for 15 minutes, then arrange the pieces snugly in a clean 1.5-litre glass or glazed ceramic container. Keep the pieces large; they will separate naturally into broad flakes when served.
- 4
Soften the vegetables
Warm the olive oil in a nonreactive sauté pan over low heat. Add the onion, carrot, crushed garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cook gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is translucent and the carrot bends easily. Let nothing brown. An escabeche wants sweet, yielding vegetables, not the toasted flavour of a sofrito.
- 5
Cook the escabeche
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the pimentón for 20 seconds. Add the vinegar and wine carefully, return the pan to low heat, and stir in the remaining 5g salt. Simmer gently for 8 minutes, until the sharp raw smell of vinegar softens but the marinade still tastes bright. Adding the pimentón away from direct heat keeps it red and sweet instead of bitter.
- 6
Cover and mature
Let the escabeche cool for 10 minutes, then spoon the vegetables around the bonito and pour over all the liquid. The fish should be covered as closely as possible, so use a snug container rather than a broad dish. Leave it no longer than 30 minutes to lose its remaining heat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, preferably 48. Turn any exposed pieces once after the first day. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
- 7
Temper and serve
Take out only the amount you mean to serve and leave it for 20 minutes so the olive oil loosens. Set the bonito on a shallow plate with some onion, carrot, garlic, and a spoonful of its red-gold escabeche. Serve cool, not refrigerator-cold, with bread to catch the seasoned oil.
Chef Tips
- •Bonito del norte is at its best during the Cantabrian summer, when the loins are firm, moist, and pale. Outside that season, properly frozen albacore is a better purchase than tired fresh fish. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and dry it well.
- •If albacore is unavailable, use a thick yellowfin tuna loin. The result will be darker and meatier, with less of bonito's fine flake. Fresh mackerel also takes escabeche beautifully, but that becomes caballa en escabeche, a different dish with a stronger, oilier character.
- •Use ordinary white wine vinegar with a clean acidity. Vinagre de Jerez, sherry vinegar, works at a pinch, but it makes the marinade darker and more assertive. Balsamic vinegar does not belong here.
- •This is a refrigerator preserve, not a shelf-stable conserve. Keep it at 4°C or colder and eat it within four days of cooking. Do not seal it for the pantry or process it in a boiling-water bath; fish requires a tested pressure-canning method.
- •Serve the bonito cool with crusty bread, roasted red peppers, or boiled potatoes. A young white Rioja suits the vinegar and the oily fish without crowding either.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the complete dish at least 24 hours ahead. Forty-eight hours is better, because the vinegar softens and the pimentón, garlic, and bay reach the centre of the fish.
- •Keep the bonito covered by its escabeche in the refrigerator and turn any exposed pieces after the first day. Use within four days of cooking.
- •Remove only the portion you need about 20 minutes before serving. Repeatedly warming and chilling the whole container shortens its keeping time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 210g)
Calories
440 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
26 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
710 mg
Total Carbohydrates
7 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
28 g
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