Sea Bass en Hojas de Maiz

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Sea Bass cooked in corn husks (Hojas de Maiz) looks unmistakably Mexican, tastes Mexican and is aromatic and succulent and easy to make. This dish originates from Lake Chapala in Jalisco Mexico. At one time the lake was abundant in catfish and this is a very old method of preparing fish from the lake. The toasted chile de arbol gives this dish a earthy flavor and a slightly charcoal flavor that’s really unique. This recipe is adapted from “Cocinar en Jalisco”, published for Casa Cuervo, the distillers for Jose Cuervo Tequila.

Ingredients

9 wide corn husks (if necessary they can be substituted with parchment paper)

4 sea bass steaks or other firm white fish (4-6 oz each)

3 limes, juiced

12 chile arbol peppers ( about ¼ oz)

3 cloves of garlic peeled and mashed

½ teaspoon olive oil

Sea salt

Serves 4

Preparation

Husks

Rinse the corn husks in water to remove any debris. Cover the husks in a large bowl or pot of fresh water and soak to soften them while you marinate the fish. When it’s time to assemble the fish, remove the husks and shake out excess water. If the husks are not wide enough to wrap a piece of fish it’s easy to use 2 smaller overlapping husks. Tear 8-10 ¼ inch strips for tying the husks.

Fish

Rinse and dry the fish. Then put salt and squeeze lime juice over the steaks. Refrigerate in a sealed container for 30 minutes.

Chile Arbol Flaky Paste

Quickly rinse the chile arbol peppers in water and dry them thoroughly with a paper towel. Heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan to a moderate high heat and brown the garlic to a golden color. In the same sauté pan add the chile peppers with stems and roll them around so all peppers are coated in olive oil. Toast the peppers on both sides. They will turn from a bright red to a deep red color and crisp-up very quickly so turn them with tongs to toast both sides.

Remove from pan. When cool enough to handle, remove the stems and manually break up chiles. Place the chiles, garlic and 1 teaspoon water in a spice mill or small blender and create a flaky chile / garlic paste. Enjoy the aroma of this toasted chile.

Assembly

Place each piece of fish on a single husk, salt then spread chile paste over the fish. Wrap the husk around the fish and tie each end with a strip as shown below.