Pixín a la Sidra

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy sauté pan or flameproof cazuela with lid, 28 to 30cm
• •Food mill or immersion blender
• •Shallow dish for flouring
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the clams

   Discard any clam with a broken shell. Tap any open ones firmly and discard those that do not close. If they were not sold already purged, dissolve 35g salt in 1 litre cold water and soak the clams for 20 minutes. Lift them out with your hands so the sand stays behind, rinse under cold water, and drain.

   Do not pour the clams and soaking water together into a colander. That simply tips the settled sand over them again.
2. 2

   Prepare the monkfish

   Check that every strip of grey outer membrane has been removed, because it contracts in the pan and pulls the fish out of shape. Pat the medallions very dry, season them evenly with 4g of the salt, and leave them for 10 minutes. Pat them dry once more before flouring.

3. 3

   Sear the fish

   Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-high heat. Dust the monkfish lightly with the flour and shake off every loose bit. Sear it in one uncrowded layer for 60 to 75 seconds per side, just until pale gold outside but still raw at the centre. Transfer it to a plate and keep any juices that collect.

   Flour the fish immediately before it reaches the pan. Flour left sitting on damp fish becomes paste and sticks where it pleases.
4. 4

   Cook the sofrito

   Lower the heat and add the onion with 1g salt to the same pan. Cook for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring often, until dark gold, soft, and almost jammy. Add the garlic and cook for 45 seconds. Stir in the tomato and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes, until its water is gone, the colour has deepened, and a spoon drawn through the sofrito leaves a clean path.

5. 5

   Reduce the cider

   Raise the heat to medium-high and pour in the cider, scraping up the browned traces from the bottom. Let it boil steadily for 8 to 10 minutes, until reduced by half to roughly 150ml. The bubbles will grow broader and the sharp raw-apple smell will soften. This reduction is what decides the sauce: it concentrates the cider before the monkfish has any chance to overcook.

   Use dry, unsweetened cider. Apple juice or sweet drinking cider leaves the sauce cloying, and longer boiling will not repair it.
6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Add 200ml hot fish stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and pass the sauce through a food mill, or blend it carefully until smooth. Return it to the pan and bring it to the barest simmer. It should coat a spoon but still pour easily; if it is too thick, add the remaining stock 15ml at a time.

7. 7

   Cook fish and clams

   Set the monkfish and its collected juices into the sauce in one layer. Simmer very gently for 3 minutes, turn the pieces, then scatter in the clams and cover. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, removing the clams as they open. The monkfish is ready when its centre has turned just opaque and the flesh feels firm with a slight spring. Return the opened clams to the pan and discard any that remain closed.

   Keep the sauce below a hard boil. Fierce heat makes monkfish tight and clams rubbery, which is a poor reward for buying good seafood.
8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the pan off the heat. Stir in two-thirds of the parsley and let the dish rest for 3 minutes so the sauce settles around the fish. Taste before adding the last 1g salt, because the clams may have seasoned it sufficiently. Scatter over the remaining parsley and serve from the cazuela, with bread or plain boiled potatoes to carry the cider sauce.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger to remove the monkfish's tough grey membrane, not only the dark outer skin. Pésalo, no lo adivines: buy 800g after trimming, because monkfish loses a surprising amount of weight when the membrane and central bone are removed.
• •Asturian sidra natural is dry, tart, still, and lightly tannic. Away from Asturias, choose an unsweetened dry hard cider and let a lightly sparkling one go flat before measuring it. The sauce will be a little softer, but it will not turn sugary.
• •Use ripe fresh tomato only when it smells of tomato at the stem. During the colder months, good canned whole peeled tomatoes are the honest choice; drain and crush them, and expect a slightly deeper, rounder sauce.
• •Small clams cook evenly and release enough liquor to season the sauce. Manila clams and littlenecks work well. Large chowder clams stay tough in the time the monkfish needs, so leave those for another pot.
• •If monkfish is unavailable, use 800g of thick hake steaks and shorten the final cooking to 4 or 5 minutes. The flesh will be softer and more delicate, and the proper name becomes merluza a la sidra.
• •A light homemade fish stock is best. Simmer monkfish bones or white-fish trimmings with onion and water for 25 minutes, then strain. If the choice is between water and a harsh, salty stock cube, use water and let the cider and clams speak.
• •Drink the remaining dry cider with the dish. For the table, plain boiled potatoes or a good loaf are enough. The sauce has already done the work.
• •Refrigerate leftovers promptly and eat them within one day. Reheat very gently, covered, and only until warmed through. Do not freeze the finished dish; the clams toughen and the sauce may split.

Advance Preparation

• •The sofrito and cider sauce can be completed through Step 6 up to 24 hours ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate covered, and bring it back to a gentle simmer before adding the seafood.
• •The monkfish can be trimmed and portioned up to 12 hours ahead, then kept covered in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Salt and flour it only shortly before cooking.
• •Purged clams can be drained, covered with a clean damp cloth, and refrigerated for up to 4 hours. Do not leave them submerged in fresh water, and do not cook them ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 340g)