HONDURAS - HERB-FRIED MAHI MAHI with COCONUT BLACKBEAN RICE and MANGO SALSA

Located in  Central America, Honduras is one of the hidden gems of the World. Blessed with more than 500 miles of tropical white sand beaches stretching across two coastlines (one facing east to the Caribbean Sea and another facing west to the Pacific Ocean), Honduras is a  wonderland of  bio-diversity.  Its rich coral reef systems feed endangered whale sharks and its dense forests provide sanctuary for rare scarlet macaws and wild jaguars.

 

Honduras has a multi-ethnic history dating back at least 2000 years. Before Spanish explorers arrived in 1502 Honduras was inhabited by diverse groups of Indigenous people who lived in complex agriculture-based settled societies shaped around cooperative resource management. They shared cultural and trade exchange with neighbouring regions in Mesoamerica and their food practices were grounded in cherished ingredients (such as corn, pumpkin, beans, tomatoes, peppers and fish), that were grown or caught close to home. 

 

With Spain came previously unknown ingredients such as rice, lemons, beef, coconut, pork, sausages and cheese. And so, a slow union of old and new World food practices began. This culinary blending took on even deeper flavours and roots when European colonisers forced enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean (who had their own unique food traditions), to work  in Honduras. 

 

500 years later, Hondurans now enjoy a flavoursome and ingredient-rich fusion cuisine that weaves together the food traditions of Africa, the Caribbean, Mesoamerica and Spain. Due to shared histories similar fusion cuisines can be found in other parts of Central America. However, what sets Honduran food apart from neighbouring countries  is that Honduran cooks use a lot more coconut in their recipes than any other country in Central America.

 

 

our

HONDURAN

menu included

HERB-FRIED MAHI MAHI

with

COCONUT BLACKBEAN RICE

and

MANGO SALSA

served with

fried corn tortillas and encurtido pickled vegetables 

 

 

HERB-FRIED MAHI MAHI

NOTE: Mahi Mahi is the Hawaiian name for a firm-fleshed yet sweet-tasting tropical ocean fish which is known in Honduras and the Caribbean as Dolphin Fish. Use of this alternative name ensures people don’t think this recipe is suggesting cooking Dolphin (a marine mammal), which is unrelated to fish.

 

INGREDIENTS:

·      4 Mahi Mahi Fish Fillets (or 1 per person) cut in 1 cm thick diagonal slabs

·      1 tsp achiote powder (or replace with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and 1/4 tsp turmeric)

·      1/2 tsp garlic powder

·      1/2 tsp ground cumin

·      1 1/2 tsp mixed dry herbs (basil, thyme and oregano)

·      1 tsp achiote powder (or replace with 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and 1/4 tsp turmeric)

·      1 tsp salt

·      1/8 tsp ground black pepper

·      1 large egg

·      3 tbs wheat flour (or more) and extra salt

·      Oil for frying – amount depends on cooking method (options include shallow frying in oil in frypan or on flat-top BBQ. BBQ requires less oil)

·      2 corn tortillas per person

·      1 jar Encurtido pickled vegetables – easy to buy at the supermarket

 

NOTES about Encurtido:  encurtido is a popular condiment and side dish in Honduran cuisine featuring crunchy pickled vegetables such as carrot, onion and peppers. Buying pre-made encurtido at the store in a jar is not a cheat step. Encurtido has been commercially prepared in Honduras since 1898 and since then it has become a common practice for Hondurans to buy encurtido.

 

METHOD:

1.    Place the fish pieces and all the herbs, spices, salt and pepper in a large container with a lid (or a strong paper bag) and shake the contents all around to ensure the fish is coated evenly with the herbs and spices

2.    Put the container of spiced-fish in the refrigerator for 1 hour for the fish to absorb the flavours turning the container over a few times in the hour to ensure the herbs and spices are distributed evenly over the fish

3.    Now egg and flour the fish – you need a wide bench for this

4.    Bring the fish out of the fridge and sit it on the left of the bench

5.    Take a low dish, add the egg and beat with a fork to fluffy and place on the right of the fish

6.    Now put  another dish to the right of the egg dish, and add the flour plus some salt and mix well

7.    Next  put a flat wide plate or tray to the right of the flour dish

8.    Now you are going to pass the fish pieces through the egg and flour to coat and pop onto the plate ready to fry (place the pieces separately on the plate – don’t stack them on top of one another or the flour coating will get wet

 

TIP: avoid coating your hands as well as the fish in egg and flour by either 1/ using your left hand to pass the fish through the egg and right hand to press both sides of the fish into the flour or 2/ use a fork to dip both sides of the fish pieces in the egg then your hand to press both sides of the fish into the flour

 

9.    Prepare your frypan/BBQ on medium heat with oil and add in a little salt. Once the temperature is ready add the fish pieces to the hot oil

 

TIP: from this point on you may need to adjust the temperature up or down a few times to ensure fish is cooking at the right temperature and not burning

 

10.         Cook fish on one side until golden brown – about 10 minutes. During that time use a spatula/metal egg flip/BBQ tool to lift and move fish around to ensure they are cooking evenly and not sticking to the cooking surface

11.         Once the first side is golden use the  cooking tool to flip the fish pieces over and repeat step 10. 

12.         Remove fish from the pan/BBQ, set aside on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil  and quickly fry the corn tortillas on both sides in the oil that is left on the pan/BBQ after frying the fish

13.         Serve fish with the fried tortillas and Encurtido pickled vegetables

 

COCONUT BLACKBEAN RICE

INGREDIENTS:

·      cup long grain rice

·       1 cup cooked black beans (or canned)

·      2 cups coconut milk 

·      1 tsp salt

·      1/2 red onion finely chopped

·      2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

·      1 tbs olive oil

 

METHOD:

1.    Take a medium size pot with a tight fitting lid

2.    Add the oil to the pot, heat to medium/low, and sauté  onion in oil until translucent, using a wooden spoon to push the onion around to get an even golden colour; should take around 5 minutes

3.    Add garlic and sauté briefly without browning or burning

4.    Add rice and use wooden spoon to stir and coat rice with oil

5.    Add coconut milk and salt and bring to the boil using the wooden spoon to stir the rice and scrap the bottom of the pot to stop the rice sticking 

6.    Once the rice is boiling stir in the cooked black beans and if using canned beans add the juice from the can as well and stir whilst coming back to boil

7.    Give the pot a final really good stir and scrape across the bottom to make sure nothing is sticking then turn the heat back to low

8.    Put the lid on and cook for 10 minutes (from this point don’t take the lid off until ready to serve)

9.    After 10 mins turn the heat off and let the pot sit on the cooling element for at least 10 mins with the lid untouched so the rice can steam

10.         When ready to serve lift off the lid and use a wooden spoon to fluff and stir all the rice and ingredients together

 

MANGO SALSA 

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 ripe mango, washed and dried

·      2 medium sized ripe tomatoes

·      1 red or green capsicum - ideally one that is half red and half green

·      I bunch fresh coriander/cilantro, washed and dried

·      Juice of 1 lime

·      salt and pepper

·      1 tsp thinly sliced red chilli, optional (or more if you like your salsa spicy)

 

METHOD:

1.    Wash, dry, de-core and cut tomatoes into small dice; about 5 mm or smaller

2.    Wash and dry the capsicum

3.    Hold the capsicum vertically and cut off the 4 sides, then cut off the top and the bottom. You will be left with a seed skeleton. Discard that. The top slice will have a stem sticking out as well, pull it off and discard that too 

4.    Now cut the reserved pieces of capsicum into small dice t math the tomato

5.    Mix diced tomato and capsicum together and season with lime juice, chilli slices (if using) and salt and pepper to taste 

6.    Next prepare the mango ‘cheeks’ for the salsa 

 

NOTE: ‘Mango cheeks’ are the two large, oval-shaped pieces of mango flesh on either side of the Mango seed

 

7.    Hold the mango vertically, and using a knife cut down close to the seed separating the mango cheeks from the seed first on one side then the other

8.    Take a smaller knife and being careful not to cut through to the skin of the mango, score the flesh of the mango cheeks in a 5 mm grid pattern 

9.    Then use a teaspoon to scoop out the mango cubes and add them to the  salsa tomato/capsicum mix

10.         The final step is to add the fresh coriander. Pick the leaves off the stem,  discard the stems then roughly chop the leaves and fold into the salsa

 

 

These are Q-ZINE original recipes informed by multiple sources including (but not limited to):

https://greathonduranfood.com

http://delightsbydaisy.blogspot.com/2011/04/tajadas-de-minimo-verde-fried-green.html

https://worldcupfeast.wordpress.com/recipes/honduras-tilapia-black-beans-rice-and-salsa/

https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-achiote-or-annatto-2138265

https://keviniscooking.com/sazon-seasoning-latin-spice-blend/

http://delightsbydaisy.blogspot.com/search/label/Honduran

http://delightsbydaisy.blogspot.com/2010/12/enchiladas-hondurenas.html