Whole Red Snapper - Veracruz Style

Somehow, after living in DC for four years, I have just discovered the fish market in Southwest. The place is amazing. Each stand is overflowing with live crabs, fresh shrimp, and every other type of seafood you can imagine.  The people are all incredibly friendly and are more than willing to give out samples, especially if you can make it there on a weekday.  If you’ve never been, you need to check it out.  The market is near the Jefferson memorial…here is a map for specifics.

After tasting crab balls and fresh steamed shrimp, we decided to try something new.  I’ve eaten red snapper before but I’ve never cooked a whole fish in my life.  The task seems daunting but it’s actually ridiculously easy and so tasty.  After buying the whole fish, we took it over to a cleaning stand (the guys there clean the fish and remove the scales for a few bucks), it makes the whole process so much easier.

Veracruz style, or Veracruzana, is a Mexican style of cooking that typically includes tomatoes, olives, and onions.  It’s really flavorful and goes so well with snapper.  Here’s the recipe we put together:

Whole Red Snapper

2 cans Whole Peeled Tomatoes

1 Onion, chopped

3 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 cup Green Olives, chopped

A few tablespoons Capers

Parsley and Oregano

Cayenne Pepper

Get out a large saucepan, big enough to fit all of the ingredients and the fish.  Heat oil over a flame and throw in the onions once the oil is nice and hot.  Sautee onions until they are slightly translucent and then add the garlic.  Cook for another minute before adding the tomatoes.  To do this, squish each tomato through your fingers to break them up.  Add a little of the liquid from the can as well.

Add the parsley and oregano and the cayenne pepper.  Throw in some salt and pepper and let the sauce simmer for about 3 minutes. After the sauce has thickened a little, add the capers and olives (I know, cooking olives seems weird but it actually dulls their strong flavor a little bit).  Simmer again for about 8 minutes.  Then remove the sauce from the heat and refrigerate for about an hour, or you can leave it in the fridge for up to a day. Honestly, when people tell me to do something like this, I usually skip it.  I hate cooking days in advance, I want to eat my creation immediately!  So it’s understandable if you want to jump right into it without refrigerating the sauce…but I have to tell you the flavors meld together much more nicely if you let the sauce sit for a little while!

When you’re ready to cook the fish, heat the pan with the sauce up and add the whole fish right to it.  Spoon some sauce over the fish and cook for 15 or so minutes.  The fish should be flaky and white inside.

Bring the whole pan to the table and serve right from there. One pot meals are my absolute favorite and this one is especially flavorful and downright exciting to look at.  Serve the fish with some simple pasta topped with olive oil and then use the Veracruz sauce as a delicious addition.