Pescado a la Talla de la Costa Oaxaqueña

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy cast iron comal or skillet for toasting chiles and aromatics
• •High-powered blender
• •Medium-mesh sieve
• •Charcoal or wood-fired grill
• •Two wide fish spatulas for flipping the whole fish
• •Long platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Butterfly the fish

   If your fishmonger has not done this for you, lay the cleaned whole fish on a cutting board and split it from head to tail along the spine, opening it like a book so it lies flat. Leave the head and tail on. Leave the skin on. The skin is what holds the fish together on the grill and what carries the chile paste. A fillet is not pescado a la talla. It is something else.

   Rinse the butterflied fish under cold water, pat it dry with paper towels, and season the flesh side lightly with salt. Let it sit on a rack in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you build the chile paste. This dries the surface so the paste sticks.
2. 2

   Toast the chiles on a comal

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the guajillo, ancho, costeño, and pasilla oaxaqueño chiles separately, pressing each one flat for about 20 to 30 seconds per side. They should puff and turn fragrant, never blacken. The costeño is small and burns the fastest, watch it. The pasilla oaxaqueño carries a smoky note from the way it is dried over wood in the Sierra Norte. That smoke is the soul of this paste.

3. 3

   Char the aromatics

   On the same comal, char the unpeeled garlic, halved onion, and whole tomatoes. Turn them every few minutes until the skins are blackened in patches and the flesh underneath has softened, about 8 to 10 minutes for the garlic and onion, 12 minutes for the tomatoes. Pull each one off when it is ready, do not wait for everything together. Slip the garlic out of its skins. Leave the char on the tomatoes and onion. That black is flavor.

4. 4

   Soak the chiles

   Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water, not boiling. Press a small plate on top to keep them submerged. Soak for 20 minutes, until the flesh is pliable but the chiles still have body. Drain. Reserve a small cup of the soaking water in case the paste needs loosening.

5. 5

   Build the adobo

   In a blender, combine the soaked chiles, charred garlic, charred onion, charred tomatoes, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, vinegar, lime juice, and salt. Blend on high until completely smooth, adding a tablespoon or two of soaking water only if the blender struggles. The paste should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and stay there. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids, then stir in the olive oil and melted manteca. La manteca es el sabor and it carries the chile paste into the flesh of the fish.

   Taste the paste. It should be assertive: deep red, slightly sour from the vinegar and lime, salty, and warm with the spice from the cloves and canela. If it tastes flat, it needs more salt. If it tastes harsh, give it five minutes to settle and taste again.
6. 6

   Adobo the fish

   Lay the butterflied fish flesh side up on a sheet pan. Slather the chile paste generously across the flesh, working it into every crease and along the bones. Flip and coat the skin side too, more lightly. Let the fish marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature. No longer. The acid in the paste starts to break down the flesh past that, and you want the fish to grill, not cure.

7. 7

   Build a wood fire

   On the Costa Chica they grill over leña, hardwood that burns down to embers. If you have a charcoal grill, light a generous chimney of hardwood charcoal and let it burn until the coals are covered in gray ash. Add a few chunks of mesquite or oak if you have them. Spread the coals for medium-high heat. A gas grill will work, but the wood smoke is part of the dish. Asi se hace y punto.

8. 8

   Grill the fish, flesh side first

   If you have banana leaves, pass them quickly over the open flame until they turn glossy and pliable, then lay them on the grate to keep the fish from sticking. Place the fish flesh side down on the leaves or directly on a well-oiled grate. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes without moving it. The paste will darken and char in spots. That char is the talla.

   Resist the urge to flip early or move the fish around. The flesh needs to set against the heat or it will tear when you turn it. If you see the edges curling, your fire is too hot. Pull the fish to a cooler part of the grate.
9. 9

   Flip and finish skin side down

   Using two wide spatulas, gently flip the fish skin side down. Brush the flesh side with any remaining adobo. Grill for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the skin is charred and crisp and the flesh at the thickest part of the spine flakes easily when pressed with a fork. A 3-pound fish will be done in about 18 minutes total. A 4-pound fish needs closer to 22. The flesh should look opaque all the way through, with the chile paste set into a dark, glossy crust.

10. 10

    Serve from the grill

    Slide the whole fish onto a long platter, banana leaf and all if you used one. Set the lime halves, warm tortillas, salsa de chile costeño, sliced onion, and cilantro alongside. Each person pulls flesh from the bone with a fork or a tortilla and builds their own taco at the table. This is a dish you eat with your hands, with cold beer, near the ocean if you can manage it. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Whole fish is non-negotiable. Ask your fishmonger for a snapper or robalo with clear eyes, bright red gills, and flesh that springs back when pressed. If the fish smells like anything other than clean ocean, walk away. A bad fish cannot be saved by good chile.
• •Chile costeño is the chile that makes this Oaxacan. If you cannot find it, the dish will still be good with extra guajillo, but you should know what you are missing. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade. Order chile costeño online from a Mexican grocer if you have to. It keeps for a year in a sealed jar.
• •The chile paste makes more than you need for one fish. Refrigerate the rest in a glass jar with a thin film of olive oil on top. It keeps for two weeks and turns chicken thighs, pork chops, or shrimp into the same kind of dish.
• •If you do not have a grill, a heavy cast iron skillet over high heat will work in a pinch, but you will lose the wood smoke that defines the dish. The smoke is half the recipe. Build a fire if you can.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile adobo can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated in a glass jar. The flavor only deepens as the chiles, vinegar, and spices marry.
• •The fish can be butterflied and held on ice in the refrigerator for up to one day before grilling. Apply the adobo no more than 30 minutes before the fish hits the grate. Past that, the acid in the paste begins to denature the flesh.
• •Banana leaves can be sourced frozen from any Mexican or Asian grocer. Toast them over an open flame just before grilling to make them pliable and to release their grassy aroma.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)