I grew up eating hearty meat stews and oven roasts throughout the cold Massachusetts winters. Fish was more of a summer dish-- freshly grilled and served with vegetables from the garden. It wasn't until I moved to Spain that I fully appreciated the versatility of fish for winter meals. And as much as I enjoy a good pot roast, these days I'd much rather dive into a plate of this hake with cider and apples, served over piping hot olive oil fried potatoes.
Hake, merluza in Spanish, is part of the same family of fish as cod and haddock, and perhaps so popular because of cod's unfortunate overfishing (and subsequent surge in price). Spain eats a lot of hake-- over 13 pounds per person per year, which is the highest amount in all of Europe! It's a delicious fish when treated well, and a must try when visiting Spain.
Hake with Cider Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 1 crisp apple Granny Smith or Gala work well
- 7 garlic cloves crushed to a paste
- 2 dried cayenne peppers
- 1.5 cups of peeled and chopped tomatoes about 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- 1.5 cups of hard Spanish cider dry style cider
- Salt to taste
- 4 6- ounce pieces of hake if you can't get filets you can make the recipe with daditos, chunks of fish
- Flour
- Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Add about two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to a heavy skillet-- cast iron is perfect. Heat to medium and add the chopped onion. Fry until translucent and just starting to color (about 10 minutes).
- Add the garlic paste and dried cayenne peppers and sauté for about a minute.
- Add the tomato, tomato paste and sugar and lower to a light simmer, stirring every few minutes until the liquid from the tomatoes has reduced about halfway.
- Add the cider and bring to a bubbling simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Season the hake with salt and dredge in flour. Fry in a pan of hot olive oil (it should be as hot as possible without smoking to allow for a good sear). You don't ned to fully cook the filets if they're thick-- just make sure to sear well on both sides.
- Add the fish to the cider sauce, and cook at a slow simmer for another five minutes.
- Serve with hearty bread or homemade potatoes, and enjoy with a bottle of Spanish cider from Asturias.
Nutrition
Do you have a hearty fish recipe for winter? Share it in the comments!
elsie
Looks Yummy!
Patricia Dinan
Just about to make this dish but can't see when the Apple is added......so I am adding it after onion and hoping for the best .
Frank Teixeira
Fish filet w/banana and rum vanilla sauce
S&P, flour and saute filets
Saute banana split lengthwise in butter until soft and lightly browned.
Rum Vanilla Sauce
Saute 1/4 C onion and a few peppercorns in 1 TB butter until translucent, add 1/4 C rum and 1 Ts vanilla extract. Cook off alcohol. Add 1/3 C heavy cream reduce until thickened.
Place filet on plate, top with banana slices, strain some sauce over each serving.
Main and desert together.
Lauren Aloise
I don't know about this one Frank! It sounds like my favorite dessert mixed with fish... I'm doubtful but will try it sometime! 🙂
Frank Teixeira
It's an uptown version of a Madeira Island classic which is traditionally served with a passion fruit (maracuya) sauce. You would be surprised how tasty it really is. The trick is to eat a piece of fish together with the banana.
However,if this recipe is too avant-guard, you can serve it drizzeled with the butter you sauteed the banana.
This was one of the most favored preparations at my Costa Rican seafood restaurant in Playa San Miguel.
Colette
Can you suggest a substitute for Hake. I am in Tx. We may have it here but I haven't seen it in my shopping travels.
Lauren Aloise
Of course! Any member of the cod family will do-- cod or haddock. Also monkfish would work if you could get that!