Rabbit in Salmorejo. Canarian recipe

How to make rabbit in salmorejo .

One of the meat recipes that I liked the most on my recent visit to Tenerife has been the rabbit in salmorejo.

It is one of the dishes that arises from the most traditional cuisine and therefore it is a very basic and cheap dish. One of the most recognized and famous dishes in Canarian cuisine.

Although as it happens in many places, its origin is located in the peninsula, since it appears much earlier in the books of Aragonese cuisine.

But it is undoubtedly in the Canary Islands where they have given it their best and fair fame. Incorporating the ingredients available on the islands they have managed to improve this recipe and make it their own.

This recipe comes from  La Orotava . The “Arautava” or “Arautapala” is one of the most beautiful towns in the Canary Islands, a municipality located in the north of Tenerife and which also occupies part of the center of the island.

With an old town full of beautiful and well-kept streets. This dish is served in most of the guachinches , although where I liked the most was “El Raspón”. There they gave me this recipe that now you can also enjoy at home.

The trick of the recipe is the salmorejo (it is not the Andalusian salmorejo , but the name of this particular marinade) in which the rabbit is macerated for a whole day.

So the rabbit meat is soaked and when we start cooking it leaves the meat with an incredible flavor and texture, very similar to a light pickle.

I hope you like this rabbit recipe in salmorejo, perfect to accompany with some wrinkled potatoes and a good wine from the north of Tenerife.

Cheap and simple recipe, what more could you ask for. How do you prepare it? Leave your comment.

Before starting. Rabbit

1. The biggest difficulty with this recipe would be cleaning the rabbit. Although you can already find it clean and cut in most supermarkets and butchers.
2. I recommend that you ask your trusted butcher to do the work for you and you will have no problem with the recipe.
3. If you decide to cut it, you must be careful, when you chop it, small pieces of bone may come off. Check and clean well before starting.
4. We will wash the rabbit and strip all its fat well, at home we always add the liver, but it is optional. We reserve everything in a large container.

Preparation of the marinade or salmorejo. Maceration and frying

1. We put the garlic cloves clean of skin and the picona pepper in a mortar. You can remove the latter from your seeds if you want to subtract spicy from the recipe. But I assure you that this spicy touch of this rabbit in salmorejo is important to embroider the recipe.
2. It is not easy to find the picona pepper, you can always substitute 2 choriceros peppers and a cayenne pepper.
3. If they are dry, you have to hydrate them with hot water a few minutes before. You can help yourself from the microwave.
4. Crush everything until you get a paste, then add little by little the sweet paprika, the vinegar, the white wine and finally a handful of coarse salt.
5. We cover the rabbit pieces with the marinade, the bay leaf and the spices that I mention in the ingredients. All the pieces have to be well covered so that the flavor is soaked well and the wine and vinegar act to soften the meat.
6. Cover in an airtight container and leave to macerate in the fridge for 24 hours. After the maceration time, we remove the rabbit from the marinade.
7. We put on the fire a deep casserole with abundant soft virgin olive oil to fry. When the oil is very hot we begin to drain the rabbit (if there is some salmorejo nothing happens).
8. With a fork we take one of the rabbit pieces and introduce it into the very hot oil.
9. Cook the rabbit until it is well browned. About 15 minutes frying the slices over medium-low heat at first and then strong to make them well.
10. Always regulating the temperature of the fire to get it to cook inside. As soon as the pieces are browned, place them in a large saucepan.

Stew and final presentation of the rabbit in salmorejo

1. When we finish frying, turn off the heat and pour the remaining marinade (that of draining the rabbit) over the oil in which we have fried the rabbit. Thus we take advantage of the flavor that it has taken.
2. Let it boil for about 10 minutes so that the alcohol from the wine and vinegar evaporate. Here you will have a delicious liquid not only for this rabbit but as an accompaniment to other meats.
3. We put the salmorejo in the casserole in which we have the rabbit and cook for 30 minutes over medium heat, until the rabbit is tender.
4. If it runs out of liquid we can optionally add a little water. Try the point of salt in case you need a little more to make it to your liking.
5. We turn the rabbit pieces after 15 minutes of the stew time if necessary.
6. Let stand a few minutes before serving and sprinkle with a little chopped fresh parsley or coriander.
7. We serve with a side of wrinkled potatoes . 

I hope you like it and cheer up with this recipe at home.

Preferably avoid putting it for dinner because it is a quite forceful, although to eat first course, it is the most. To enjoy Canarian cuisine.