Recipe: Spanish Makeral Marinated in Andalusian spices VIVA! MOVIDA OPENS IN SINGAPORE

If I’m at home on the weekend, I like to visit Queen Victoria Market on a Sunday morning to find something tasty to cook. On one occasion, I found some amazing Spanish mackerel ‘darnes’ (fish cutlets). I love this fish. It’s beautifully oily and has a strong taste that stands up to big Spanish flavours. I decided to create a mash-up of two traditional Andalusian dishes: cazón en adobo and salsa rotena. Cazón en adobo is a classic southern Spanish dish (the name changes depending on the town), where dogfish is marinated in Moorish spices before frying it; something we’ve been doing abgb xt Movida Lorne since the start with local gummy shark. Salsa rotena is taken from an old-fashioned fisherman’s dish in the south, where they traditionally braise sea bass in a thick stew of tomato and sherry. In this dish, the adobo marinade brings all those aromatic Andalusian, Moorish spices that I love, while the sherry vinegar holds the acidity, balancing the fat of the fish. And with a semolina crumb, the fish keeps intact and cooks perfectly, falling off the bone with ease when you cut into it. The rich tomato and sherry sauce wonderfully contrasts the texture and spices of the fried mackerel cutlets. Served with a green side salad and bread, it’s simply delicious.

METHOD

1. Toast cumin seeds in a preheated oven 170 degrees for 6 minutes until lightly toasted.
2. Grind the toasted cumin seeds a spice grinderuntil fine.
3. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. 
4. Add Mackerel cutlets, mix well, cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. 

2_Sofrito - Spanish tomato sauce: 

1. In a large heavy-based saucepan, add the olive oil on low-medium heat.
2. When the oil is hot, add the diced onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes. Stir  occasionally untilsoft but not coloured.
3. Mix in the garlic and bay leaves and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add capsicum and cook for 10 minutes or until soft.
5. Add the fino sherry, increase the heat to medium-high and cook for 3 minutes until the liquid is  reduced.
6. Add the tomato, lower to a low-medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes until  well reduced.
7. Stand aside in a warm place. 

3_Fish: 

1. In a large tray add the fine semolina.
2. Half-full a large heavy-basedsaucepan with oil and heat to 180-190 degrees.
3. Remove the mackerel from the marinade, working in small batches, 2-3 cutlets, gently shake off  excess liquidand dust well all over in the semolina.
4. Fry for 4-5 minutes, then turn overand repeat on the other side, until well browned and cooked  through.
5. Removewith a slotted spoon, place on a tray of absorbent paper, season with salt. Repeat with  the remaining fish. 

4_To plate: 

1. Serve individually, a good ladle full of the sofrito sauce on each plate with a piece juicy fried  Mackerel placed on top.