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Puerto Rico · Kingfish

Puerto Rican Kingfish Escabeche

Sierra en Escabeche

A Lent and Christmas tradition all over the island: kingfish steaks fried, then buried in a pickle of olive oil, onions, vinegar, garlic and bay leaf and left overnight to soak it up.

  • Prep 20 min
  • Cook 30 min + overnight
  • Serves 6
  • Level Easy
Photo: jlastras · CC BY 2.0
Served with: Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas ↓En Español

Ingredients

Tap each item as you gather it.

For the fish

For the escabeche

Method

Step by step, the way it is done on the island.

  1. Season the steaks. Rub the kingfish with the lime juice, salt and pepper and let it sit 15 minutes.
  2. Fry. Pat dry and dust with flour. Fry in ½ inch (1 cm) of oil at 350 °F (175 °C) for 3–4 minutes per side until golden. Drain and lay them in a glass or ceramic dish.
  3. Make the escabeche. In a pot, warm the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns and cook gently 10 minutes until the onions are soft but not brown.
  4. Add the vinegar. Stir in the vinegar, olives and salt and bring just to a simmer for 2 minutes.
  5. Cover and wait. Pour the hot escabeche over the fish so every piece is covered. Cool, cover and refrigerate overnight, or up to 3 days.
  6. Serve. Serve at room temperature with arroz con gandules, guineítos or crusty bread.

On the side

The side dish that belongs with it, full recipe included.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican Rice with Pigeon Peas

Arroz con Gandules

Rice and pigeon peas cooked in a caldero with sofrito, achiote and olives. It is the national dish of Puerto Rico, and the crispy pegao at the bottom is the prize.

  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 45 min
  • Serves 6–8
  • Level Medium

You need

  • 3 tbsp achiote (annatto) oil or olive oil
  • 4 oz (115 g) smoked ham or salt pork, diced
  • ½ cup sofrito (recaíto)
  • 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
  • 1 packet sazón with culantro and achiote
  • ¼ cup pimiento-stuffed olives
  • 1 tbsp capers (optional)
  • 1 can (15 oz) green pigeon peas (gandules), with liquid
  • 3 cups medium-grain rice, rinsed
  • 3½ cups water or broth (about)
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • 1 bay leaf

How to make it

  1. Sofrito. In a caldero or heavy pot, brown the ham in the oil. Add the sofrito and cook 3 minutes, then the tomato sauce, sazón, olives and capers for 2 minutes.
  2. Add gandules and liquid. Add the gandules with their liquid, the water, salt and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and taste: it should be a little salty.
  3. Add the rice. Stir in the rice and boil uncovered until the liquid drops to the level of the rice, about 5 minutes.
  4. Cover and steam. Stir once from the bottom, cover with foil and the lid and cook on low 25–30 minutes. Do not stir again.
  5. Pegao. For the crisp bottom, turn the heat to medium the last 5 minutes. Fluff the top and scrape the pegao out to share.

Photo: Jose Kevo from Springfield, Missouri, EEUU · CC BY-SA 2.0

More ways to cook Kingfish

Same fish, a different corner of the sea.

Isla de Margarita, VenezuelaMargarita Island Fried Kingfish
TrinidadTrini Curry Kingfish
Vitória, Espírito Santo, BrazilMoqueca Capixaba: Kingfish Stew