Hispanic Heritage · México

Veracruz

Veracruz · Boca del Río · Alvarado · Tlacotalpan · Xalapa · Coatepec

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Huachinango a la veracruzana

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Veracruz opens onto the Gulf of Mexico, and its cooking reflects connections across the sea. Huachinango a la veracruzana pairs snapper with tomato, olives, capers, and herbs: a bright, savory sauce that makes the fish the center of the plate.

La Gente

Build the sauce before adding the fish. This sequence lets the onion soften and the tomato concentrate while protecting the fish from a long cook. Whole fish and fillets offer different presentations of the same inviting combination.

Sabor

The port cooks Mediterranean on a Mexican base. Tomato, olive oil, garlic, and bay from one shore; chile, cilantro, and lime from the other; the sea in the middle. It is bright and salty and only a little hot. The heat sits in a whole chile on the side of the plate, for the person who wants it.

Spice DNA · Acid high · Herb high · Heat low · Sweet low · Smoke none

Seasonings to explore

Bay leaves, whole. In the sauce from the start. The port's herb.
Oregano, whole. With the bay.
Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. With the onion.
Black Pepper, ground. On the fish.
Thyme leaves. An optional herbal note.
Crushed Red Pepper. Only if you cannot find chiles güeros. The güeros are better and they are the tradition.

From your market: a whole red snapper or four thick fillets, ripe tomatoes, a white onion, green olives, capers, parsley, chiles güeros (pale yellow chiles, sometimes sold pickled), a lime, and good olive oil. Badia does not sell the snapper, and the Gulf would prefer it that way.

Cocina

Huachinango a la veracruzana

Red snapper in the sauce of the port. Finish the sauce first. The fish is the last five minutes.

Serves 4

1 whole red snapper, 2 to 2½ lb, cleaned, or 4 thick fillets
Juice of 1 lime
½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
Salt
¼ cup olive oil
1 large white onion, sliced thin
1½ tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 4 garlic cloves minced
2 lb ripe tomatoes, roasted or grated, with their juice
2 Badia Bay Leaves, whole
1 tsp Badia Oregano, whole
¼ tsp Badia Thyme leaves
½ cup green olives, pitted
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp raisins, optional
4 to 6 chiles güeros, whole
¼ cup parsley, chopped

Season the fish. Rub it with lime, black pepper, and salt. Set it aside while the sauce cooks.
The onion. Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-low. Cook the onion slowly, 10 to 12 minutes, until it is soft and sweet and has not browned. Add the garlic for one minute.
The tomato. Add the tomatoes and their juice, the bay leaves, oregano, and thyme. Raise the heat to a steady simmer and cook, uncovered, 25 to 30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the raw tomato taste is gone. Stir now and then.
The Mediterranean. Add the olives, capers, and raisins if you are using them. Cook 5 minutes. Taste for salt, remembering the olives and capers are salty already.
The fish. Lower the heat. Lay the whole fish into the sauce, spooning some over the top, and lay the chiles güeros across it. Cover and cook gently 12 to 15 minutes for a whole fish or 6 to 8 for fillets, until the flesh flakes at the thickest point. Do not turn it.
Finish. Parsley over the top. Remove the bay leaves.
Serve with white rice and small boiled potatoes, which is how the port does it, and a chile güero on each plate for the person who asked for one.

Pueblos de Veracruz

Veracruz · Boca del Río · Alvarado · Tlacotalpan · Xalapa · Coatepec · Córdoba · Orizaba · Papantla · Poza Rica · Tuxpan · Tampico Alto · Pánuco · San Andrés Tuxtla · Catemaco · Coatzacoalcos · Minatitlán