Escabeche is the name for several dishes in Spanish, Portuguese, Filipino and Latin American cuisines, consisting of marinated fish, meat or vegetables, cooked or pickled with vinegar, and flavored with paprika, citrus, and other spices.
Dried Fish Escabeche
3
servings10
minutes40
minutes50
minutesIngredients
2 pieces 2 Fried fish
6 pieces 6 tomato
1 pieces 1 onion
5 cloves 5 garlic
1 piece 1 ginger
cooking oil
salt, msg and black pepper to taste
white or brown sugar
2 tablespoon 2 vinegar
Directions
- Rinse or soak the dried fish for 3 minutes to remove any odor and excess saltiness.
- In a pan, heat 12 ounces of cooking oil and fry each side of the dried fish until golden brown. Set aside.
- In a separate pan, sauté ginger, onion, and garlic until fragrant.
- Add tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes until the tomato juices come out.
- Add water, then season with salt, MSG, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- Add the fried fish. Simmer for 1 minute and serve!
Recipe Video
Notes
- You can use fresh fish, pork, or chicken instead of dried fish.
- Even if I highly recommend fresh tomatoes, you can also use tomato sauce.
- You can adjust the sweetness and sourness according to your liking.
- Feel free to add fresh herbs like cilantro or parsley for an extra burst of flavor.
- Remember to taste and adjust the seasoning as you cook to perfect the balance of flavors.
What is Escabeche?
Escabeche might sound like it could be besties with sweet and sour pork or orange chicken at your favorite Chinese joint, but nope, it’s got a different passport! This zesty dish actually hails from Spain and Latin America, which totally makes sense given Spain’s historical habit of leaving its fingerprints all over the place.
When it comes to whipping up some escabeche, you could go with meat, but fish is usually the star of the show. And why not? In the Philippines, where you’re never too far from a splash of seawater, seafood is practically jumping into the frying pan. Our markets are swimming with options – fresh or dried, take your pick.
For a truly smashing escabeche, consider these crowd-pleasers:
- Lapu-lapu
- Red snapper (aka Maya-maya, not the bird!)
- Tanigue
- Pampano
- Tilapia
Just pick one with firm flesh, which basically means the fish holds up better under pressure… like us during the holidays. Oh, and don’t forget to give your fish a good ol’ salt rub to banish any fishy business before it hits the pan.
