Chef Isabel
Berenjenas Fritas con Miel de Caña
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Borrajas Rebozadas Aragonesas
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Borrajas rebozadas are Aragón's quiet winter fry: young borage leaves washed well, dried hard, dragged through a thin egg batter, and fried until the leaf goes crisp and the center stays green.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
10 min cook•30 min total
Yield4 servings
Borrajas rebozadas are Aragón's, especially the huerta around Zaragoza where borraja is treated like a proper winter vegetable, not a weed with pretty blue flowers. The stalks usually go into the pot with potatoes, but the tender leaves have their own small reward: flour, egg, oil, salt, and a few minutes in the pan until they crisp at the edges.
What makes this the Aragonese dish is the borraja itself. It has a clean, green, slightly mineral taste, a little like cucumber met a winter leaf. Don't bury it under a heavy batter. Wash the leaves well, dry them harder than you think you need to, and keep the batter thin enough that the green shows through after frying. That is the whole trick.
If you can't find borraja where you are, use young Swiss chard leaves, acelga, or tender beet greens. They won't have the same mineral bite, and they fry a little softer, but they are the honest substitute a Spanish kitchen would reach for before pretending spinach is the same thing. No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need good leaves and hot oil.
In the Margin beside this one I wrote only: "secan o fallan," they dry or they fail. It sounds severe, but it isn't. Nadie nace sabiendo. The first batch teaches your hand the oil, and the next one comes out right.
Borraja is one of Aragón's emblematic winter vegetables, especially in the irrigated Ebro valley, where the pale green stalks are cooked in everyday home dishes with potato, olive oil, and sometimes a little garlic. The tender leaves were not wasted; they were battered and fried, either as a plain savory fry like this one or, in Alto Aragón, as sweet crespillos de borraja dusted with sugar for the feast of the Encarnación. The dish belongs to the old household habit of making a treat from the part of the vegetable another cook might throw away.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
young borage leaves
Quantity
200g
about 24 medium leaves, stems trimmed
plain flour
Quantity
100g
80g for batter, 20g for dusting
large egg
Quantity
1
about 55g without shell
cold water
Quantity
120ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
3g, plus more to finish
mild olive oil
Quantity
500ml
for frying
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| young borage leavesabout 24 medium leaves, stems trimmed | 200g |
| plain flour80g for batter, 20g for dusting | 100g |
| large eggabout 55g without shell | 1 |
| cold water | 120ml |
| fine sea salt | 3g, plus more to finish |
| mild olive oilfor frying | 500ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Large bowl for washing greens
- •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towel
- •Heavy frying pan, 24 to 26cm
- •Kitchen thermometer, helpful but not required
- •Wire rack or kitchen paper for draining
Instructions
- 1
Clean the leaves
Choose young borage leaves, the tender ones no longer than your hand. Trim away thick stems, then swish the leaves in two changes of cold water, lifting them out so the grit stays behind. Dry them very well in a salad spinner and then on a clean towel. The small hairs soften in the oil, but water on the leaf is what spits and makes the batter slide off.
- 2
Make the batter
Whisk 80g of the flour with the egg, cold water, and 3g salt until you have a thin batter, closer to single cream than dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes while the oil heats. This is the step that decides the dish: a thin batter lets the leaf fry crisp and green underneath; a thick one gives you a heavy fritter with the borraja hidden inside.
If the batter sits too thick after resting, whisk in cold water 1 tablespoon at a time. Pésalo, no lo adivines at the start, then adjust by the look of it. - 3
Heat the oil
Pour the olive oil into a heavy frying pan to a depth of about 2cm and heat it to 175 to 180C. Without a thermometer, drop in a thread of batter: it should sink for a breath, rise at once, and fizz steadily without turning dark right away. Too cool and the leaves drink oil; too hot and the batter browns before the borraja softens.
- 4
Coat and fry
Put the remaining 20g flour on a plate. Dust a leaf lightly, tap off every bit of excess, dip it into the batter, let it drip for a second, and lay it flat into the oil away from you. Fry 4 or 5 leaves at a time for 45 to 60 seconds on the first side, then 30 to 45 seconds on the second, until the edges are pale gold and crisp and the green still shows through.
- 5
Drain and serve
Lift the leaves to a rack or kitchen paper and salt them while they are still glossy from the oil. Serve them at once, piled loose, not covered, or they soften. Siempre sale, si lo sigues: dry leaves, thin batter, hot oil, and no crowding in the pan.
Chef Tips
- •Buy borraja in winter or early spring if you can, with lively green leaves and firm stalks. If the leaves are huge, floppy, or very rough, use the stalks for borraja con patatas and save this recipe for younger leaves.
- •Swiss chard leaves, acelga, are the best substitute. They taste milder and less mineral than borraja, so salt them well after frying and cook them a few seconds less.
- •Keep the batter thin. If it coats the leaf like paste, add cold water by the spoonful. Thick batter makes bread around a vegetable, and that is not this dish.
- •Fry and serve straight away. Rebozados wait for no one. If you must hold them for a few minutes, keep them uncovered on a rack in a low oven, never stacked in a bowl.
Advance Preparation
- •The borage leaves can be washed and dried up to 4 hours ahead. Wrap them loosely in a clean towel and keep them chilled until frying.
- •The batter can be mixed 20 minutes ahead and kept cold. Whisk it again before using, adding a spoonful of cold water if it has thickened.
- •Do not fry these ahead for reheating. They lose their crisp edge quickly, as all fried leaves do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 90g)
Calories
230 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
50 mg
Sodium
450 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
5 g
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