Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Consomé de pescado is the Mexican Pacific coast's answer to the miracle bowl of broth: a clear, deep-orange fish stock built from the frames and heads of white fish, simmered with tomato, garlic, onion, guajillo chile and oregano, served with a squeeze of lime, a spoon of pico de gallo and a stack of warm tortillas. It's the fisherman's breakfast (drunk hot from a plastic cup after a night on the boats), the hangover cure of Puerto Vallarta and San Blas, and the small-restaurant Sunday starter in Nayarit, Sinaloa and Jalisco. Served with a piece of white fish or shrimp floating in the bowl, or purely as a broth, depending on the cook. Every fishing cooperative on the Pacific coast has its own recipe.
Method
Rinse the fish frames under cold water to remove any blood or grit. This is essential — un-rinsed frames give you a cloudy, fishy stock.
Combine frames, onion, garlic head, bay, oregano, peppercorns, cumin, salt and water in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, skim any foam that rises, and cook uncovered 40 minutes. Do not boil hard — a lazy simmer keeps the stock clear.
Toast the guajillos and chiles de árbol on a dry pan 20 seconds a side. Soak in hot water 15 minutes.
Char the tomatoes, onion half and 3 garlic cloves on a dry pan 6 minutes until blackened in patches.
Drain the chiles. Blend chiles, charred vegetables, achiote paste and 200ml of stock to a smooth sauce. Strain.
Strain the fish stock through a fine sieve into a clean pot, pressing on the solids. Discard the solids. Warm the oil in a small pan and briefly toast the strained chile-tomato blend, then whisk into the fish stock. Add lime juice. Simmer 10 minutes to marry.
Add the fish pieces to the hot consomé. Season with salt. Poach 3 to 4 minutes until just cooked through and opaque.
Ladle into shallow bowls, making sure each has a piece of fish. Serve with the fresh salsa spooned into the bowl or on the side, plus warm tortillas, lime wedges, avocado slices and hot sauce. Eaters build tacos with the fish and tortillas alongside sips of the consomé.
Tips
- Rinse the frames well. Any blood in the pot turns the stock murky. Rinse until the water runs clear.
- Simmer, don't boil. A gentle simmer keeps the consomé clear. A hard boil emulsifies fat and makes it cloudy.
- Skim the foam. As the frames simmer, grey foam rises. Skim it off with a spoon in the first 10 minutes.
- Add lime at the end. Adding lime to a boiling stock turns it bitter. Off the boil, at the end of the simmer, is the moment.
- Fresh fish frames only. Frozen frames give you a stronger, fishier stock but often cloudy. Fresh is the marker.
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