Description
James Beard Award–winner Chef Fernando Olea’s Halibut in Salsa Culiché layers delicate fish with bold, lesser-known Mexican flavors that unite into something entirely new.
Ingredients
Scale
For the salsa culiché:
- 3 oz chile pasilla
- 3 oz chile de árbol
- 1 qt orange juice
- 3 oz onion
- 1 ½ oz garlic
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 lb butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1–2 tbsp sugar
For the halibut:
- Light olive oil
- 6 halibut fillets , 6-8 oz each
For the vegetables:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1/2 red or yellow onion
- 2 bell peppers, any color
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the salsa culiché:
- Toast to blacken the chilies in a dry skillet. Place the chilies and orange juice in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 10-12 minutes. While chilies are simmering, in a separate pan sauté the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until tender. Place the onion-spice mixture and the chilies in a blender with all the cooking liquid and puree. Blend until silky-smooth consistency. Return the sauce to the pan and stir 20-25 minutes. Whisk it smooth, and taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking, adding salt, sugar, and heat (chile de árbol). The sauce can be stored for a week in the fridge or frozen for later use.
For the halibut:
- In a medium pan, pour light olive oil, tilting the pan to spread evenly. Warm over high heat until smoking, then add halibut fillets. Cook until seared, about 3-4 minutes; turn and sear another side, about 3-4 more minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until centers of fillets are just opaque, 2-4 minutes more on each side depending on thickness,
For the vegetables:
- The only other thing to know is to add hard vegetables (cauliflower) to the skillet first and softer vegetables (onions and bell peppers) to the skillet last, so they can all achieve a similar level of doneness.
To plate:
- Place the sauce on a plate and sprinkle sesame seeds over sauce. Place fish and vegetables on top of sauce and garnish as desired with edible flowers or microgreens if flowers are unavailable. Serve with a spoon to scoop the delicious sauce!