Colombia has a protracted custom of wrapping starches, meats, and greens in plantain or banana leaves earlier than cooking. This system doubtless originated within the comfort of portability, although steaming the enclosed parcels additionally concentrates their fillings’ flavors and juices inside because the thick leaves lend the tamales a deeply herbaceous aroma.
Alejandra Cubillos González, head chef on the Bahía Restaurant in Isla Barú (a former peninsula accessible from the port metropolis of Cartagena), wished to develop a recipe that celebrated this culinary method whereas additionally highlighting the foodways of the Caribbean coast. González’s creation differs from extra conventional starchy rice-, plantain-, or corn-based tamales in that it comprises primarily recent fish seasoned with hogao del pacífico, a Colombian-style tomato-based sofrito. Nevertheless, she considers her iteration each a celebration of her nation’s food-wrapping custom and in addition an homage to the culinary specialties of Cartagena.
González serves this dish with a wealthy and fragrant coastal Colombian-style coconut rice, which is made with heat coconut milk, butter, and sugar. Steamed white rice is a serviceable substitute.
Featured in “One Chef’s Spin on the Colombian Tamal—Inspired by the Caribbean Coast.”
Fish Tamales with Hogao del Pacífico
Vivid tomatoes and creamy coconut shine on this Cartagena-based chef’s coastal riff on a Colombian specialty.
Yield: serves 4
Time:
1 hour, 10 minutes
For the hogao sauce:
- 2 medium plum tomatoes
- ½ cups vegetable oil or different impartial oil, divided
- 2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped basil leaves
- 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp. floor cumin
- ¾ cups coconut milk
For the tamales:
- 2 lb. skinless sea bass fillets, minimize into 4 8-oz. parts
- Kosher salt and freshly floor black pepper
- Contemporary or thawed, frozen banana leaves, minimize into 4 12- by 10-in. rectangles
Directions
- Make the hogao sauce: Lower the tomatoes into quarters, then use a small spoon to scrape their seeds and juices right into a blender. Add ¼ cup of cool water, then mix on excessive till easy; put aside. Coarsely chop the seeded tomatoes and set them apart as effectively.
- Season the fish evenly with salt and black pepper and put aside.
- To a medium skillet over medium warmth, add a ¼ cup of the oil. As soon as sizzling, add the onions and cook dinner, stirring incessantly, till simply translucent, 3–4 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, and proceed cooking, stirring incessantly, till the tomatoes start to melt, 3–4 minutes. Stir within the reserved tomato seeds and liquid, flip the warmth all the way down to low, and cook dinner, stirring often, till the combination is jammy and the onions and tomatoes are very comfortable, about 20 minutes. Stir within the basil, cilantro, 2 teaspoons every of salt and black pepper, and the cumin, and cook dinner till aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir within the coconut milk, convey to a simmer, then switch the sauce to a medium bowl and set it by the range to maintain heat.
- Place a steamer basket in a medium pot, then add sufficient water to simply attain the underside of the basket. Cowl the pot and set over medium warmth to convey as much as simmer.
- In the meantime, rinse out the skillet and set over medium warmth. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and, as soon as it begins to shimmer, add half of the fish and sear, turning as soon as, till evenly golden brown on either side, about 4 minutes whole; use a skinny spatula to switch the fish to a plate. Repeat with the remaining oil and fillets, then put aside.
- To assemble a tamal, place a 10-by-12-inch banana leaf in your work floor with one of many brief sides closest to you. Unfold 2 tablespoons of the hogao sauce down the middle of the leaf leaving a border of about 3 inches on each the highest and backside. Place one of many fillets atop the road of sauce, then unfold 2 extra tablespoons of sauce over the fish. Shut the tamal: First fold the left and proper edges of the banana leaf up over the fish, then fold the highest and backside edges up and over one another to make a decent parcel. Flip the parcel over so it rests seam-side-down. Repeat with the remaining fish, hogao, and banana leaves, then switch the 4 tamales to the steamer basket, cowl, flip the warmth to low, and steam till the fish is cooked by way of, 10–12 minutes. Serve the tamales heat, with steamed white rice on the aspect.
