Minilla de Pescado del Istmo de Tehuantepec

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet for charring tomatoes and chiles
• •Wide 12-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet
• •High-powered blender
• •Slotted spoon for lifting the fish
• •Molcajete for grinding the cloves

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the fish

   Place the fish fillets in a wide pot. Cover with cold water by an inch. Add the whole onion half, the two whole garlic cloves, the bay leaves, and the salt. Bring to the barest simmer over medium heat. The water should tremble, never boil. Boiling water turns dorado tough and stringy. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the flesh flakes when you press it with a fork.

   If you cannot find dorado or robalo, use a firm white-fleshed ocean fish. Tilapia is a compromise and not a good one. The Isthmus cooks chose dorado for a reason: it shreds in long fibers and holds its shape in the sofrito.
2. 2

   Shred the fish by hand

   Lift the fish out with a slotted spoon and let it cool on a plate for 10 minutes. Reserve a cup of the poaching liquid. With your fingers, pull the fish apart into long fine threads, working out any small bones as you go. The texture is the dish. A food processor will turn it to paste. The senoras of Juchitan use their hands and so do you. No me vengas con atajos.

3. 3

   Roast the tomatoes and chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium-high. Place the whole tomatoes and the jalapenos directly on the surface. Let them char in patches, turning every few minutes, until the tomato skins blister and split and the chiles are blackened on all sides. This takes 10 to 12 minutes. The char is what gives the sofrito its smoke and depth. Pull them off, let them cool until you can handle them, then peel the tomato skins and pull the stems off the chiles. Do not rinse them. The black is the flavor.

4. 4

   Blend the tomato base

   Place the peeled tomatoes and the charred jalapenos in a blender. Pulse a few times until you have a textured puree, not a smooth liquid. You want some body. The minilla is a hash, not a soup.

5. 5

   Build the sofrito

   In a wide, heavy cazuela or skillet, melt the lard over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until translucent and edged with gold, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook one more minute, until fragrant but not browned. Add the oregano, canela, and ground cloves. Stir for 30 seconds. The kitchen will smell like an Isthmus market in the morning. La manteca es el sabor.

   The canela and clove are not optional decoration. They are the ghost of the Manila galleon trade, the spices that arrived at Acapulco from Asia and traveled south into Oaxaca. This is what makes minilla taste like the Isthmus and not like a generic tomato fish.
6. 6

   Cook down the tomato

   Pour the blended tomato and chile into the cazuela. It will sputter. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 12 minutes. The sofrito is ready when the color deepens from bright red to a darker brick red, the liquid has cooked off, and the fat shows at the edges. If you stop short, the minilla tastes raw and watery. Cook it down properly. Asi se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Fold in the trade-route ingredients

   Lower the heat to medium. Stir in the olives, capers, raisins, and toasted almonds. Cook for 3 minutes so the raisins plump and the olives release their salt into the sofrito. Add the shredded fish and fold it in gently, lifting from the bottom rather than stirring hard. Stringy fish broken into mush is fish you stirred too aggressively. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved poaching liquid if the mixture looks dry. You want it moist but not wet.

8. 8

   Finish and rest

   Cook for 5 more minutes so everything marries. Taste for salt. The olives and capers carry their own, so adjust carefully. Pull the cazuela off the heat. Stir in the parsley. Cover and let the minilla rest for 10 minutes before serving. The rest is part of the recipe. The flavors need a moment to settle into one another.

9. 9

   Serve at the table

   Bring the cazuela to the table. Serve with warm corn tortillas, totopos, lime halves, and a small dish of pickled jalapenos. Each person builds their own taco or piles the minilla onto a totopo. It is also eaten cold the next day, spread on bolillo bread. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Dorado and robalo are the traditional fish. If you live far from a Pacific or Gulf market, ask your fishmonger for a firm-fleshed ocean fish that shreds well: corvina, grouper, or even a fresh swordfish steak will get you there. Tilapia and cod are too soft and they will turn to paste.
• •Char the tomatoes on a dry comal, not in oil and not under a broiler. The dry heat blisters the skin and concentrates the sugars without stewing the flesh. The black patches are not damage, they are the seasoning.
• •Make minilla a day ahead if you can. Like most stewed dishes, it improves overnight as the canela, clove, and olives marry into the tomato. Eat it warm the first day, cold on bolillo the next morning. Both versions are correct.
• •If you cannot find oregano del Istmo, regular dried Mexican oregano works. Italian oregano is a different plant entirely. Do not substitute it.

Advance Preparation

• •The poaching and shredding can be done one day ahead. Refrigerate the shredded fish in its poaching liquid in a covered container.
• •The full minilla keeps refrigerated for three days and the flavor deepens. Reheat gently in a covered cazuela over low heat with a splash of water, or eat it cold on bread.
• •Minilla freezes reasonably well for up to one month, though the texture of the almonds softens. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)