Marmitako Bonito

How to prepare tuna marmitako . Oddly enough, it is time for recipes with fish and, of course, Marmitako .

Some of you may think, “but in the heat!” Yes, the bonito or Thunnus alalunga, the main ingredient of this dish, begins its migration in June from the central Atlantic to the Bay of Biscay. We can find the fish markets on the Spanish north coast with good bonito until September .

For many generations, Basque fishermen have eaten this stew. It is a very popular dish and, on the high seas, when there was not much left in the pantry, you had to use what you could.

The recipe that I am going to give you is the one that we have always eaten at home. When a cloudy day dawns in Galicia, you feel like eating a stew that is followed by a great nap. It is also very easy to prepare; it only requires good raw material and it is about eat bread and dunk!

I am going to recommend an experience that, for me, is wonderful. If you have decided to spend a few days in Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias or the Basque Country, be sure to visit the fish markets .

It is part of the culture of our country and it is worth getting up early and going to buy a piece of good fish (nice from July to September) and, by the way, talk to the merchants and see how they work in these places.

So now you know, play Marmitako today !

Before cooking. How to prepare choriceros peppers

1. The night before cooking the Marmitako, we will put the choricero peppers to soak. But do not panic if we have forgotten!
2. For the clueless, like me, you can put the choricero peppers to soak in boiling water 1 hour before starting to cook the dish.
3. To ensure that the pepper meat comes out well, we will incorporate them into the Marmitako cooking process. We will remove them half an hour before incorporating the bonito.
4. Then we will open them, we will remove the meat by scraping with a spoon. We will incorporate this meat into the stew so that it contributes its delicious flavor.

Preparation of the tuna Marmitako

1. We put the choriceros peppers to soak with boiling water 1 hour before.
2. Chop the green pepper and tomato (peeled and peeled) into not very small pieces. Cut the onion julienne or into small pieces and chop the garlic cloves. We incorporate it into the saucepan to prepare the sauce.
3. While the above is being fried, we are going to click the potatoes. They are cut by inserting the knife and turning it. That the pieces are medium, like those of a stew of potatoes with meat. I have left you several images of this step to make it easier for you.
4. When the onion is transparent, add the potatoes and mix.
5. Then add a heaping tablespoon of sweet paprika and stir. Be careful not to burn the paprika.
6. Immediately afterwards we incorporate a glass of white wine and let it cook for about 2 minutes so that the alcohol evaporates.
7. We cover with fish broth and leave it on low heat. We tried the point of salt and if necessary we added to taste.
8. We take the choriceros peppers from the soaking, we open them lengthwise, we remove the pipes. Add to the saucepan (cook on the surface of the stew, do not immerse them)
9. Add two cayenne chillies. Cover and let cook over low heat for 1 hour, watching if the liquid evaporates, in which case we will add more broth.
10. During the process we will move the casserole with our hands so that the sauce fattens. If we stir with a spoon, we run the risk of the potato falling apart.

Final preparation of the tuna Marmitako

1. Half an hour before finishing the process, we remove the peppers. We open them and dragging with a spoon, we remove the meat. Add it to the stew, move the saucepan and cover again. We leave it on fire for the remaining half hour.
2. When the potato is soft, we will remove the cayenne chillies, so that we do not find them later while we eat.
3. Finally, we add the bonito, which previously we will have cut into not very small blocks (the fishmonger has prepared them for me)
4. We will cook over low heat for about 5 minutes and serve so that the bonito meat is tender and tasty. Do not leave it much longer, because the bonito dries immediately.

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album.  

Tips for a yummy marmitako

• With the preparation of this dish, you can get more or less complicated. Because the recipe requires having a good fish broth, which you can prepare at home or buy outside.
• That depends on the desire or the time you have. This is how we cook Marmitako in my family . I recommend that you have several loaves of bread to dip in. At home the dishes are clean!
• If you like marmitako as much as your girlfriend / or, but you do not have albacore on hand. You can prepare it with salmon (it is not a mortal sin, I say it for the purists of this recipe, what is there!), We can have it throughout the year.
• If you have never tried this stew with salmon , I encourage you to do so. You can also go with other fish, hake, grouper, cod marmitako …
• Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog. I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.