Caballa en Escabeche del Cantábrico

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy frying pan, about 28cm
• •Shallow nonreactive dish with a 1.5 litre capacity
• •Fish tweezers or clean needle-nose pliers
• •Slotted spatula
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the mackerel

   Run your fingers along the flesh and pull out every pin bone. Cut the fillets into 8 pieces, season evenly with 6g of the salt, and leave them for 10 minutes. Pat them thoroughly dry, coat them lightly in the flour, and shake off every loose bit. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Too much flour makes a pasty escabeche.

   Keep the fish cold until the pan is ready. Mackerel must be handled properly from market to stove; neither frying nor vinegar repairs fish that has been allowed to warm.
2. 2

   Fry it lightly

   Heat 70ml of the olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat. When a pinch of flour sizzles at once, lay in the mackerel skin-side down without crowding the pan. Fry in two batches for about 2 minutes on the skin side and 1 minute on the flesh side, until the skin is lightly golden and the thickest part is opaque and reaches 63°C. Lift the pieces into a snug glass or glazed ceramic dish in one layer. Cook them through, but no longer. Vinegar firms fish as it rests, and dry mackerel only becomes drier.

3. 3

   Soften the aromatics

   Wipe out the pan and add the reserved 150ml clean olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cook over low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the carrot bends without breaking. Keep everything pale. This is a gentle aromatic base, not a browned sofrito.

4. 4

   Build the escabeche

   Take the pan off the heat and wait 20 seconds. Stir in the pimentón for about 10 seconds, just until the oil turns brick-red and smells smoky. Add the wine and vinegar carefully, keeping your face back from the sharp first rush, then stir in the remaining 4g salt. Return the pan to low heat and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Do not reduce it hard; the measured oil and acidity are the balance of the dish.

   Pimentón scorches quickly and turns bitter. Putting it into the oil off the heat gives you its colour and sweetness without burning it.
5. 5

   Cover and chill

   Let the escabeche stand for 2 minutes, then pour it warm over the mackerel, spreading the onion, carrot, garlic, and spices between the pieces. The liquid should almost cover the fish. If it does not, move everything to a smaller dish rather than diluting the pickle. Leave uncovered for about 30 minutes, but no longer than 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate.

6. 6

   Rest, then serve

   Rest the mackerel in the refrigerator for a full 24 hours. If the upper pieces are not covered, turn them once after 8 to 12 hours. Serve cold or let it sit out for 15 minutes so the olive oil loosens, spooning the vegetables and red-gold escabeche over every piece. Make it today and leave it alone until tomorrow. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •Buy mackerel with bright metallic skin, firm flesh, and a clean marine smell. Keep it cold on the way home and cook it the same day. Mackerel can develop histamine when mishandled, and cooking or vinegar does not remove it.
• •No Atlantic mackerel where you are? Pacific chub mackerel is the closest substitute. Sardines or jurel, horse mackerel, are also traditional escabeche fish, but their thinner flesh needs a much shorter fry. Canned mackerel will fall apart here and isn't a substitute.
• •Use unseasoned white wine vinegar, ideally marked 6% acidity. Sherry vinegar works if that is what you have, but it makes the pickle darker, rounder, and less clean-tasting. Cider vinegar gives a softer, fruitier result.
• •Use glass, glazed ceramic, enamel, or stainless steel for resting the fish. Bare aluminium or copper reacts with vinegar and can give the escabeche a metallic taste.
• •The dish is at its best after 24 to 48 hours. Keep it covered at 4°C or colder and eat it within 3 days of cooking. This is a refrigerated pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve.
• •For a picnic, carry it in a sealed container inside a well-iced cooler. Do not leave it unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when the day is hotter than 32°C.
• •Serve it with thick bread for the escabeche. Natural Asturian cider suits the western Cantabrian coast; a dry txakoli suits the eastern end. Both have enough acidity for the mackerel.

Advance Preparation

• •Remove the pin bones and slice the vegetables earlier in the day, keeping the prepared mackerel covered and refrigerated until cooking.
• •Cook and pickle the complete dish at least 24 hours before serving. It is even better after 48 hours, when the vinegar, oil, and fish have settled into one another.
• •Transport it cold in its escabeche. Keep the fish covered by the vegetables and liquid so its surface does not dry out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)