Mexican · Veracruz · main

Huachinango a la Veracruzana

Name: Huachinango a la Veracruzana
Prep time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Cuisine: Mexican · Veracruz
Ingredients: red snapper — 1600 g; lime juice — 60 g; salt — 10 g; olive oil — 74 g; white onion — 200 g; garlic — 18 g; tomatoes — 1000 g; green olives — 120 g; capers — 50 g; chiles largos güeros in escabeche — 600 g; bay leaf — 1 g; dried mexican oregano — 1 g; black peppercorns — 800 g; canela — 2 g; cloves — 6 g; potatoes — 200 g; flat-leaf parsley — 20 g

Huachinango a la Veracruzana reads sourness 5.3, citrus 4.9 and salinity 4.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mexican · Veracruz main, about 1 hr 45 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.6 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 2.5 / 10
Sour & Bright — 6.8 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.9 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.4 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.2 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sourness 5.3 · Citrus 4.9 · Salinity 4.8 · Richness 4.0 · Umami 4.0 · Allium 3.5 · Warm Spice 3.0 · Marine & Briny 3.0 · Floral 2.1 · Sweetness 2.0 · Heat 1.9 · Fruity 1.8 · Herbaceous 1.7 · Bitterness 1.6 · Funk & Ferment 1.4 · Earthy 1.4 · Nutty 1.1

What's in it (17)

red snapper — 1600 g
lime juice — 60 g
salt — 10 g
olive oil — 74 g
white onion — 200 g
garlic — 18 g
tomatoes — 1000 g
green olives — 120 g
capers — 50 g
chiles largos güeros in escabeche — 600 g
bay leaf — 1 g
dried mexican oregano — 1 g
black peppercorns — 800 g
canela — 2 g
cloves — 6 g
potatoes — 200 g
flat-leaf parsley — 20 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 45 min (1 hr 15 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 89.7 kcal, 9 g protein, 1.5 g fat, 12.9 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

This is the most Spanish dish in Mexico and the most Mexican dish in Spain: olives, capers and olive oil laid over tomato, with the chiles largos and their vinegar pulling it back across the Atlantic.
Rub the fish inside and out with lime juice and salt and leave it 30 minutes in a cool place.
Warm the olive oil and cook the onion and garlic gently 8 minutes until soft and sweet, without letting them colour — this sauce should taste bright, not caramelised.
Add the tomatoes and simmer 20 minutes, breaking them down, until the sauce has lost its watery look and the oil is beginning to show at the edge.
Stir in the olives, capers, chiles largos with their vinegar, bay, oregano, peppercorns, canela and cloves and cook 10 minutes more. Taste — it should be salty, sour, faintly sweet and just warm with chile heat.
Slide the potato slices in and poach them in the sauce 12 minutes until they yield to a knife.
Nestle the fish into the sauce, spoon it over the top, and bake at 190°C for 25 minutes, until a knife slipped into the thickest part meets no resistance and the flesh has just gone from translucent to opaque at the bone. Shower with parsley.
Substitutions: 4 thick fillets can stand in for the whole red snapper.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Le Grand Aïoli — French · Provence
Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemon and Olives (Djaj Mcharmel) — Moroccan
Brandade de Morue Nîmoise — French · Languedoc
Cod Veracruz with Tomatoes and Olives — Mexican
Shrimp and Poblano Tacos with Lime Crema — Mexican

Keep reading: what sourness, citrus, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.