Chef Isabel
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Salpicón de Marisco Gallego
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Salpicón de marisco is Galician coastal cooking: cooked seafood, crisp diced vegetables, and a sharp vinaigrette, all chilled long enough for the oil and vinegar to season every bite.
Salads
Spanish
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
20 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield6 servings
Salpicón de marisco is Galician, from the Atlantic table where good shellfish is treated with sense: cook it cleanly, cool it properly, cut it evenly, and dress it with oil, vinegar, and salt. It is not a creamy salad and it is not a pile of whatever seafood was left over. The pieces must taste of themselves, then of the vinaigrette.
The method that decides it is the chilling after dressing. Dress it cold, then let it rest at least one hour so the onion softens, the pepper stays crisp, and the seafood takes the vinegar without turning harsh. Rush it and you get seafood with wet vegetables beside it. Give it time and it becomes one dish.
If you're far from Galicia, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use cooked prawns, a good piece of firm white fish, and frozen cooked octopus if that's what your fishmonger has. Mussels are welcome when they are good. Skip them when they are tired. Pésalo, no lo adivines, especially with the vinegar, because too much will flatten the sweetness of the seafood. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Salpicón de marisco belongs to the seafood cooking of Galicia and the Atlantic coast, where shellfish from the rías is often served simply, cold, and sharply dressed. The name salpicón points to a chopped mixture seasoned with vinegar, a practical form for cooked seafood served at family tables, feast days, and summer meals. Its exact contents change with the catch, but the Galician rule stays steady: good seafood first, vegetables small, vinaigrette clean.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
cooked prawns
Quantity
300g
peeled
cooked octopus
Quantity
250g
cut into 1cm pieces
firm white fish fillet, such as hake or monkfish
Quantity
300g
mussels (optional)
Quantity
500g
scrubbed and debearded
red bell pepper
Quantity
120g
finely diced
green bell pepper
Quantity
120g
finely diced
ripe tomato
Quantity
100g
seeded and diced
sweet white onion
Quantity
80g
finely diced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml
vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)
Quantity
35ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more for cooking
bay leaf
Quantity
1
black peppercorns
Quantity
6
lemon wedges (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| cooked prawnspeeled | 300g |
| cooked octopuscut into 1cm pieces | 250g |
| firm white fish fillet, such as hake or monkfish | 300g |
| mussels (optional)scrubbed and debearded | 500g |
| red bell pepperfinely diced | 120g |
| green bell pepperfinely diced | 120g |
| ripe tomatoseeded and diced | 100g |
| sweet white onionfinely diced | 80g |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml |
| vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar) | 35ml |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more for cooking |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| black peppercorns | 6 |
| lemon wedges (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide saucepan
- •Covered pan for mussels
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Cook the fish
Bring a wide pan of salted water to a gentle simmer with the bay leaf and peppercorns. Add the white fish and cook gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until it flakes but still holds together. Lift it out, cool it completely, then break it into large flakes with your fingers.
- 2
Open the mussels
If using mussels, put them in a covered pan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons of water and cook just until they open, 3 to 5 minutes. Discard any that stay closed. Pull the mussels from their shells and cool them. Don't boil them hard; they go rubbery fast, and then no vinaigrette can save them.
- 3
Cut the seafood
Put the prawns, octopus, cooled fish, and mussels in a large bowl. Cut the prawns in half if they are large, but leave small ones whole. Keep the pieces bite-sized and even, so every spoonful has seafood, vegetable, and dressing together.
- 4
Add the vegetables
Add the diced red pepper, green pepper, tomato, onion, and parsley. The vegetables should be small, not minced to mush. They are there for crunch and freshness, not to bury the marisco, the seafood.
- 5
Dress and rest
Whisk the olive oil, sherry vinegar, and 1 teaspoon fine sea salt until glossy. Pour it over the cold seafood and vegetables and fold gently with a spoon. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. This rest is what makes the dish: the onion softens, the vinegar settles, and the seafood tastes seasoned all the way through.
- 6
Taste and serve
Taste cold, because cold food needs a firm hand with salt. Add a pinch more salt or a few drops of vinegar only if it tastes flat. Serve chilled, not icy, with lemon wedges on the side and bread for the juices at the bottom of the bowl.
Chef Tips
- •Buy the seafood from a fishmonger with good turnover. Cooked prawns are fine if they taste sweet and clean. If they smell sharp before the vinegar ever touches them, leave them there.
- •Frozen cooked octopus is not a shame. In fact, it is often the reliable choice far from Galicia. Thaw it slowly in the fridge, pat it dry, and cut it into neat pieces.
- •Use vinagre de Jerez, sherry vinegar, if you can. White wine vinegar works in a pinch, but use a little less at first; it can taste thinner and harsher.
- •The tomato must be ripe but firm. If tomatoes are watery and sad, use less tomato and let the peppers carry the freshness. Bad tomato adds water, not flavor.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the fish and mussels up to 1 day ahead, cool them quickly, and keep them covered in the refrigerator.
- •The finished salpicón is best dressed 1 to 3 hours before serving. It can rest overnight, but the vegetables soften and the seafood takes the vinegar more strongly.
- •If making it the night before, hold back 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette and fold it through just before serving to freshen the bowl.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
340 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
170 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
39 g
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