Castañeta (Palometa) Frita de Mi Madre (Mom's Fried Golden Pompano)

At home we eat fish occasionally Golden Pompano is one of my favorite fish, it is meaty, sturdy, moist (has enough fat), and best of all doesn't have a lot of bones, most of the bones are large and in the center body not embedded through-out it's flesh.

It is very similar to white Pomfret and Black Pomfret (which are also one of my favorite fish, when I want fish steaks, medallions, rounds, whole fried fish, or a fish that can hold it's own in stewing)

This is how my mother prepares it she simply puts generous salt, pepper, mashed garlic, and lime. Then flours and pan or deep-fries. The results, a slightly crisp exterior, moist interior, and garlicky, flavorful fried fish.

With my wrist broken and unable to cook much, I decided to take pictures of what my mom was cooking and share the recipe :)

Main Ingredients:
-2 Golden Pompano's (cut into steak rounds)
-6-8 cloves garlic, mashed to a paste
-juice of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon (she used a lemon)
-salt to taste (salt generously all over)
-ground black pepper to taste
-flour as needed to coat fish

Ingredients To fry the fish:
-enough oil to deep-fry fish, or almost completely submerge (2-3 cups?)
-3 whole garlic cloves, skin on, slightly bruised

Directions:
(1) Tell your fish market guy to cut it into steaks, wash the fish real well, rinsing in cold water several times and pat-dry, make slits on the steaks skin with a knife about 2 inches apart, sprinkle salt and pepper all over, rub garlic, and lemon or lime juice all over.
(2) Allow to marinade atleast 2 hours or over night
(3) After 2 hours or marinading longer, lightly flour all the fish pieces
Directions to fry:
(1) Heat your oil over medium high heat, add your bruised garlic cloves (this will help your house not smell like a bunch of fish) add your floured fish when hot, in batches fry 5-6 minutes without touching
then turn over and allow to continue frying.
(2) Drain and remove from oil, put on paper towels to drain further or o n whatever you'd like
(3) Do the same with the second batch :) When done it should look like this. We ate it with rice and salad :D
PLEASE NOTE:
(1) Notice the fish is a golden reddish, my mom used an oil she had previously infused with sweet smoked Spanish paprika, you can also just mix the flour with some paprika for the color.

(2) This recipe can work for Tilapia/ Mojarra, Catfish, Redsnapper, or Seabass. any fresh white fleshed whole fish, even fish fillets :)

(3) If you like this recipe you'll like my mother's Salmon, with generous garlic, pan-fried in butter and olive oil see post for "Salmon de mi Mama" or her "Mojarra Frita a la Mexicana" (Tilapia Mexican style)

(4) I have a feeling I have the wrong Spanish name... I think "Castañeta" or Palometa is actually referring to "Pomfret" though Pomfret and Pompano look so similar....

Tortitas de Camaron en Chile Colorado Con Nopales (Mexican Shrimp Fritter and Cactus Stew)

Again I will say we have lots of Nopales (cactus pads) as you guys already probably know, so here's a dish I'm posting for "YayaOrchids" who kindly asked for this dish :)

In this dish shrimp fritters are made from a fluffy egg batter and ground dried shrimp, and simmered in "Chile Colorado" a flavorful smooth, smokey, rich Mexican red sauce, married with julienned nopales.

The version I present today is a very simple and "typical" version, it's what you would get at any Mexican eatery.

This is my mother's recipe for the typical traditional one, but let me tell you, my mother has a special one she makes RARELY which is more elaborate, complex, and non- traditional when I say rarely I mean like once a year rare, she made it already this year when I wasn't present so I'm out of luck, but when she makes it again I'll catch her in the act and make a post.

Ingredients for fritters:
-1 packet 4 oz. ground dry shrimp powder
-5 egg whites
-5 egg yolks
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-2 tablespoons flour

Ingredients for the sauce:
-8 dry chile california or guajillos (depends on how spicy you want it Californias have no spiciness, guajillos are hot, if you wish a combination of both can be used)
-2 dried chile pasillas
-15 dry "chile japones" or dry "chile de arbol" (optional I added them because I only had Chile California's and no Guajillos so I used them to make the sauce spicy)
-water
-1/2 onion
-2 cloves garlic
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon cloves
-1 heaping teaspoonful chicken bouillon

Ingredients to prep cactus: -8-12 cactus pads cleaned, washed, thorns removed, julienned
-2 cloves garlic
-1/4 onion
-water
-2-3 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Directions:
(1) Prep your sauce, get a medium pot, fill with water and leave on high until it comes to a boil, meanwhile remove stem from all dry chilies, and remove the seeds and veins from the California chilies, pasillas, BUT NOT from the "chile de arbol" or "chile japones" leave those whole but without stem. When water is boiling add all the dry chilies, stir well, let boil about 1 minute then turn off heat and cover. Allow to rest 10- 20 minutes. Set aside.

(2) While the chilies are soaking, I got a hot griddle heated it on high, then put a small layer of aluminum, I lowered to medium high and charred 1/2 an onion, and the 2 garlic cloves for the sauce. When blackened and fragrant on some sides, peel and set aside. (this is optional you can use them raw) (yes i have been multi- tasking I have to for this recipe)

(3) After chilies have soaked, add them to a blender, with the liquid they cooked in, along with the onion, garlic, cumin, black pepper, cloves, and chicken bouillon.

(4) Heat a pot on very high heat if you wish you can coat the bottom of the pot with oil or lard but that is optional I did heat some lard in the pot and when the pot is very very hot, strain the blended sauce in, bring to a rolling boil and thin out with some water or more of the cooking liquid if necessary (the sauce should be as thick or thin as you'd like so it's a matter of preference how much liquid u add). When sauce boils turn off and leave pot alone.

(5) Now prep your cactus, in a pot boil water with 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 onion, and salt, add cactus and boil until tender uncovered about 10 minutes, drain well and set aside, discard onion, and garlic. Set aside.

(6) Now prep your fritters, have a plate with paper towels to drain the fritters. Now beat egg whites to a stick peak, beat egg yolks back in 1 at a time, beat in 2 tablespoons flour a little at a time, along with 1 teaspoon black pepper. Now fold in shrimp powder.
(7) Heat enough oil to deep-fry or pan-fry (at least 1 inch of oil) on medium high, and fry the shrimp fritter batter by large scoop sized I used a large kitchen spoon, brown on one side then flip and brown on the other, set aside on plate to drain. When all are done, set aside.

(8) Now putting this dish together, bring your red sauce to a boil, add cactus that's already prepped, cooked and drained, when it comes back to a boil, slowly add shrimp fritters one at a time, they will float up and most of the cactus will stay at the bottom. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes. Taste red sauce for salt add more if needed ( I doubt it) then turn off and cover.


(9) Serve with fresh tortillas alone, or with beans. If you wish a Mexican red rice. It's up to you.

PLEASE NOTE:
-The shrimp powder is very salty, so salt the sauce towards the end after the shrimps fritters simmer in the sauce a bit, if it needs more than add, but don't add too much as they sit their flavor and salt will infuse into the sauce more.

-I made the red sauce without tomatoes this time, because they aren't necessary and I didn't have any, but if you wish 2 ripe Roma tomatoes can be simmered together with the chilies.

Tortitas de Atun (Mexican Tuna Fritters)

My mother calls these "Tortitas de Atun". I believe "Tortitas" would refer to anything that's round and "patty" like, however me and my Tata (grandmother) refer to them as "Frituras de Tuna" direct translation would be "Fritters of Tuna" but it is my mother's recipe, and so I'll respect her word choice and name the recipe "Tortitas de Atun" for this post.

The Tuna fritters are delicious, fluffy, spongy, eggy, sinful (because I must admit they are somewhat greasy) easy and quick to prepare fritters that we will make in my household when we want to make a really quick meal it literally takes less that 10-15 minutes to put together and another 10-15 to fry them. You can eat them with any hot sauce you have in the fridge, and some corn tortillas. If you wish a simple salad can be served with them or simply served with rice (probably not traditionally Mexican but heck being raised pre-dominantly in a Cuban food culture rice just feels right with everything)

Ingredients:
-4 egg whites
-4 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt (more to taste if needed)
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
-1 small roma tomato minced very finely (pulp, seeds removed, only the firm flesh no liquid)
-1/2 onion minced very finely
-3 cloves of garlic mashed to a paste or minced very finely
-1/2 a bunch of Cilantro cleaned pat dried, finely minced (I had very little left in the fridge so I used less)
-2 cans of tuna packed in water
-oil to pan-fry (I used canola)

Directions:
(1) Seperate egg whites from egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and white, they should form peeks when you turn off and pull the egg beater out, when stiff beat in egg yolks, add flour, season with salt and pepper (careful not to over do the salt the canned tuna is salty already).

(2) Gently fold in onion, garlic, tomato, cilantro, and canned drained tuna.

(3) Now that your batter is formed, heat oil on medium high to high heat (not to high it will burn the fritters) when oil drop batter in by large spoonfuls to form patties, and let them fry until golden brown on one side while spooning over hot oil on them, when golden brown flip with spatula and let brown on other side.

(4) Drain them, and place them in a large plate with paper towels or paper bags to drain excess oil.
PLEASE NOTE:
-Do not expect these to be firm, super crunchy fritters, these are somewhat crispy on the outside, fully cooked inside but are tender and fluffy from the eggs, like fluffy scrambled eggs.

Sardinas Lambriadas (Fluffy Egg Battered Sardines)

In Mexican cooking there is a very commonly used egg batter used for many many things, it is fluffy yet has body. It is most well known as a coating for "Chile Rellenos" (Mexican stuffed Pasilla Chiles), and can be used for Cauliflower like in my recipe "Cauliflor Envuelta en Huevo" and also for "Calabasitas Rellenas de Queso" (cheese stuffed squash) it is used for other dishes to, that I will post in the future.

Today I am gonna show you how to use it to prepare Sardines, it is very delicious and simple, it is my favorite way to prepare fresh sardines (aside from the canned one's packed in tomato sauce I love them to make "Sardinas en Salsa Criolla" (Cuban Creole sauce)

In this recipe sardines are butterflied, salted and peppered then coated in batter and fried. If you love sardines I really suggest you try the recipe after all the ingredients used in it are stuff that can be found in ALMOST ANYBODY'S PANTRY and FRIDGE.

Main Ingredients:
-1 1/2 lbs. fresh sardines
-a little bit of salt (just enough to very lightly season the fish)
-a little bit of pepper (just enough to very lightly season the fish)
-flour to dust fish

Batter Ingredients:
-3 egg whites
-3 egg yolks
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
-1 tsp. garlic powder (you may use fresh garlic but the powder is better for this)

Directions
(1)Get the sardines, clean them by removing the gills, cutting belly open and removing guts, and scraping any black stuff out. Now remove head (optional to remove head but it looks prettier), butterfly, get your knife and slice spine bone on both sides, then from the top to the bottom run your knife down to remove, when you get near the tail snip of the spine with scissors.

It is fine to have spines left, sardines have very tender spines when cooked they can be consumed.

(2)Now get each fish it should look like the picture, opened up and flat, now LIGHTLY salt and pepper each fish by sprinkling LIGHTLY (I emphasize this because the batter already has salt and is seasoned)

(3)Now get a plate, put some flour on it and set aside

(4)To make batter, separate egg whites from yolks, in a large bowl beat egg whites until stiff and fluffy like meringue, beat in egg yolks, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and beat in. Now your done set aside.

(5)Make your assembly line starting with a plate of seasoned fish, a plate of flour, the batter, and then then a pan with oil enough to pan-fry heated on medium high heat, and finally a plate with paper towels to drain fried fish.

(6)In this order start, get the lightly seasoned fish, dust it with flour, pass it through egg batter holding it from the tail, and then add to the hot oil and when browned on one side flip it when browned on the other until browned on both sides, remove from oil and drain in paper towel, do this in several batches.


(7)Enjoy, serve with lime wedges, or by itself as an appetizer, it can also be eaten as a main dish, just be sure to have at least 2 sardines per person.

NOTE & WARNING:
(1)These are addicting
(2)Any leftover batter just pour into the hot oil and fry like a pan-cake, it is very tasty.
(3)The batter if it sits to long the egg whites start to separate, so when they do just beat it again and continue.

Mojarra Frita a la Mexicana (Tilapia a la Mexicana)

In this dish fish is seasoned, lightly fried, and simmered in a very light sauce (if it can be called that), I am not a fan of whole tilapia, my mother really enjoys it and many Mexicans love tilapia (which they call "Mojarra" pronounced "mo-ha-ra" but you got to roll the "r")

Anyway I'm sure you'll get really good results using any fish you enjoy. I think this would be great with a "Red Snapper", "Black Pomfret", "Catfish", "Sockeye Salmon" cut in segments, "Rainbow Trout" or simply "Trout", "Pollack" etc. you get the point.

Ingredients:

-2 medium with slits cut on the side whole tilapias (opened up, cleaned, scales removed by scraping in opposite direction with a knife, remive all guts with hand, and those wierd things in the gills. Then with a knife scrape of anything greyish black inside it will make the fish bitter also don't cut or rip a sack near the head it will make it bitter just remove it whole rinse fish well don't be afraid to use your hands be SAVAGE)

-6-8 cloves or more crushed minced garlic preferably mashed to a paste

-salt 1 teaspoon or more to taste

-ground black pepper 1 teaspoon

-1 large or 2 small tomatoes minced

-1/2 onion minced

-1 serrano chili pepper or jalapeno minced or sliced into thin rounds

-1/2 cup cilantro minced

Directions:

-Mix garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper together, rub all over the fish, and fill the slits with it to.

-Heat generous amount of olive oil on medium high in a pan and add fish pan-fry fish brown on both sides about 3 minutes on both sides and set aside

-In dripping sautee onions and chili pepper until translucent and fragrant. Add diced tomato and cilantro season with a little of salt

-Add fish back and cover with sautee. Cover and steam for about 5-1o minutes until tomatoes release some juice. It is not suppose to be a saucy dish.

Ceviche de Pescado (Fish Pickled in lime)

You can use things like shrimp, scallops and other shellfish but at my house and many other Mexican households the "Ceviche" is done with ground or thinly sliced "Tilapia" fish filets or in Spanish "Filetes de Mojarra"
This is used as a topping for "tostadas" (the lightly fried corn tortillas that are like giant chips). One could also serve it in a plate and scoop it with tortilla chips or saltine crackers.

Ingredients
-1 ½ lbs. Tilapia Filets thinly sliced or ground
-1 Cup freshly squeezed lime juice
-1-2 teaspoon salt
-1-2 teaspoons black ground pepper
-1-2 teaspoons garlic powder (optional)
-4 roma tomatoes diced into little cubes
-4 small cucumbers diced into little cubes (like the tomato)
-½ onion diced into little cubes
-4 Serrano chili peppers finely minced teeny (optional)
-1 cup minced cilantro
-½ cup of fresh squeezed lime juice (for later)
-2 more teaspoons of salt later or to taste

Directions:
-Toss thinly sliced or ground tilapia in a bowl with 1 Cup freshly squeezed lime juice, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cover and refridgerate 1-2 hours to get cooked in the acid of the limes

-Mean while prepare the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, Serrano chilies, cilantro, cut some fresh limes if necessary and have salt set aside everything for when fish is done cooking in acid 1-2 hours later.

-When fish is cooked toss with everything else. Taste to see if it needs more salt and lime juice adjust to your taste.

Sardinas Guisadas Con Tomatillo (Sardines Sauteed w/ Tomatillo)

Super simple dish made using CANNED SARDINES PACKED IN TOMATO SAUCE OR HOT TOMATO SAUCE this is a great dish to make on those LAZY DAYS or for days when you are in a hurry. But heck I like it anyday… because I love anything from the ocean that's edible (except some weird Jellyfish Salad I had from 99 Ranch Market)

Ingredients:
-1 package canned sardines in tomato sauce or hot tomato sauce
-3 medium tomatillos cut into small cubes
-½ onion minced
-2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-½ cup chopped cilantro
-Cooking Oil (I used Extra-Virgin Olive Oil)

Directions:
(1)Heat oil in a pan deep pan on medium high, sautee everything garlic, tomatillos, and garlic until tomatillos release some of it's juices and pectin and is cooked and everything is fragrant

(2)Add the sauce from canned sardines and dump the sardines in there

(3)Add some water to the can and dump it in the pan

(4)Season with salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil then turn off and garnish with chopped cilantro.