Hake Galician

How to prepare Galician hake .

Today I bring you a recipe for fish of a lifetime. A dish that I have been eating since I was a child, and that since I am in Madrid I do not prepare much, Galician hake .

In the last two months, hake has dropped in price and has become quite affordable. So it is an option to take into account for these dates that come upon us and in which we have to take care of the costs.

This recipe is super simple, easy and rich, classifiable with the three B’s: Good, Pretty and Cheap . The main thing is that the raw material is excellent, one of the foundations of Galician cuisine, for which it is so famous.

Quality is the most important factor and so we will not have to decorate the dish much, because it will be good even if we hardly cook. This is true not only with the fish and shellfish of the Galician Rías, but also with the meats and vegetables that have a privileged place in all our cuisine.

The white or Galician hake (Merluccius merluccius) can reach up to 1.3 meters and 15 kg of weight. Its body is very long and its head is very sharp, with a very large mouth and full of small teeth. The smallest fish (less than 40 cm) in this family are called “pescadillas” or “cariocas” and they are also very rich.

Galician hake is characterized by being very lean, with immaculate white meat and its price is around € 10 to € 15 per kilo for Madrid , but if you are lucky enough to live in Burela, O Grove, or some sea port, the price drops considerably.

I encourage you to buy it from your trusted fishmonger, he will surely be happy, take a good look at where it comes from, make it fresh and from the Cantabrian Sea. I hope you like today’s recipe, you see that I am giving you ideas for a special occasion without having to complicate our lives much. Cook in the kitchen!

Preparation of Galician hake

1. We wash and clean the fish well, cut it into slices and season it with coarse salt. My fishmonger is a love and she prepared it for me in luxury. I recommend that you use coarse salt to salt the fish, with half a handful for each slice applied on both sides is enough.
2. We salt the hake slices about an hour before they are cooked. We wash them before throwing them into the pot. In this way, the hake will catch enough salt and will dehydrate slightly. With what the texture will improve and will be firmer. We reserve.
3. Peel the onions and garlic. We laminate the latter for the final garlic and cut the onion into four parts or quarters. We reserve.
4. We chose a large casserole where all the ingredients fit. Remember that the recipe is for 4 people, but if you are going to prepare it for more people you have to control this issue a lot.
5. We cook water in abundance with the bay leaf, onions and a handful of coarse salt, while we are peeling the potatoes.

Final preparation and presentation of Galician hake

1. Add the peeled potatoes and cut in half to cook in the casserole. We cook them for 10-12 minutes, it depends on the potato and the type of cuisine we have.
2. We are testing that they are tender without breaking, it is important that they do not fall apart. We test, pricking them occasionally with a fork.
3. We put the hake slices in the casserole. Let cook over low heat for about 5 – 8 minutes or so, depending on how thick the fish is.
4. After that time, cooking is stopped with half a glass of cold water. Remove from heat and leave another five minutes to rest. It always stays on point but keep in mind that cooking times vary with the thickness of the slices.
5. While the hake is resting we prepare the garlic. We put the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan. We brown the garlic that we have rolled.
6. We separate from the fire so that the temperature of the oil falls. We add the sweet paprika.
7. We remove and let stand. Thus the paprika goes to the bottom and the garlic is clean and without grounds. The oil becoming totally transparent and with a wonderful color. You can add a little of the cooking broth if you like it with more sauce, in one way or another it is glorious.
8. Once the fish is ready, drain well. We place in a source and add the garlic on top.
9. The rest of the garlic is served in a separate sauce boat. 

You can see all the photos of the step by step of the Galician hake recipe  in this album. Do not miss any detail and it will be perfect.

Tips for a perfect Galician hake

• Many of you ask me by mail where to buy the famous cachelos. They are not bought because it is not a type of Galician potato but a way of cooking it.
• In Galicia, in the past, it was used to cook the potato with its skin in chunks. Usually in the middle and put it in the casserole with a little salt. Now people usually peel the potatoes, although I love the skin. In this case they are peeled because they can stain the hake broth.
• Remember that this recipe can be made with any fish (hake, ray, monkfish, turbot, cod, haddock, conger eel …). A whole show in Galicia or at your home.
• Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog. If you like recipes with hake, you will love this  hake stew  or a delicious hake in green sauce .  
• Although other recipes such as the hake a la marinera , the baked hake or the famous  Bacalao al Pil-pil are   not worth a crumb. I am deeply in love with both, and they are also my favorite peixes.