Jul 25 2008
Pescado encocado or fish with coconut sauce
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Published by Laylita at 1:38 pm under All, Comfort food, Kid friendly, Main dishes, Meatless, Seafood, South America
My memories of the beaches in Ecuador always include fresh seafood and fresh coconuts, sometimes separate and sometimes together like in this delicious recipe for fish cooked in a coconut sauce, which in Ecuador is called pescado encocado or just encoca’o, which literally translates as coconutted fish. In Ecuador this dish is made with corvina, a type of sea bass, I used halibut but any fresh fish would go well with this sauce, I’ve made it before with tilapia, cod and salmon, and of course there are variations of fish encocado using shrimp, clams, crab, squid, etc.
You can use a fresh coconut to make the sauce, use both the coconut water and grated coconut flesh, but if you are in a rush – like me – you can use canned coconut milk for convenience.This is a very easy dish to make and the coconut gives it a nice twist, we eat a good amount of fish and I am constantly trying to prepare the fish in new dishes so that each time we have something a little bit different than the previous meal. I served this pescado encocado with rice and fried ripe plantains, you can also serve it with patacones or green plantain chips instead of the sweet ripe ones, just like many Ecuadorian and South American seafood dishes having rice as a side is a must, especially when there is a rich sauce as there is nothing better than soaking it up with rice.
Ingredients:
2 ½ lbs halibut or any other fresh fish, cut in medium size chunks
¼ cup lime juice, from about 2 limes
Juice from 2 oranges
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tbs sunflower or olive oil
1 medium sized onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
4 roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
14 oz can of coconut milk
3 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Side dishes – rice and fried ripe plantains
Preparation:
- Mix the lime juice, orange juice, crushed garlic, cumin, paprika, coriander powder and salt in a small bowl.
- Marinate the fish chunks for 1 - 2 hours.
- Heat the oil to prepare a refrito or base for the sauce, add the diced onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and salt, cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat.
- Add the coconut milk to the refrito, mix it in well and cook for about 10 minutes, if you prefer a thicker sauce you can thicken the sauce by adding ½ tsp of tapioca starch or corn starch.
- Add the fish fillets, cover partially and let simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with rice and fried ripe plantains.
Looks delicious… sounds pretty similar to Brazilian Moqueca?
Thanks, Chris. Yes, a lot of similarities between dishes in South America, coastal dishes from one country are very similar to coastal dishes from others, same thing for dishes from the highlands - but, we hate to admit it and each country (and even each city) likes to think that their dish is the best version and the most original.
Delicious! I love coconut milk and fish, so that dish makes me drool!
Cheers,
Rosa
WOW - this looks so yummy and what a great dish for the summer!!
This will be made!!
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
How delicious! Great combination of flavors.
What a yummy-looking dish! Yes, lots and lots of rice, please!
Como todas tus recetas, se ve muy rico!!!. Justo hoy compré un halibut bellisimo, asi que lo voy a hacer encocado, haber si me trasporto a esas playitas !!!!
Oh man that does look good. I just did grilled halibut last night. Wish I had some more halibut to try out this recipe!
Bookmarked on Del.icio.us
Hi Laylita,
I have been blogging for about a month and was surfing around tonight checking out some new food blogs. I found you off of Cook Eat Fret. All I can say about your blog is WOWWWW!!! I love it. I am major lover of Latin American cuisine and you have just become my favorite destination. Totally blown away. Believe me, I’ll be back.
–Marc
I’ve absolutely loved this, I made it and it was devine! Thanks so much Laylita!
Nate - Just what you needed, another excuse to have more halibut! Thanks for the bookmark!
Marc - Thank you! I was just checking out your site and my mouth is watering!
Jen - I’m glad you liked it!
This just knocks me out! I love the way you’ve set up the photos. I’ll be making this soon.
Although I love fish, no one in my house will eat it without complaint. When I saw this recipe, I immediately decided to try and use it as a secret weapon to bring everyone over to my side of the table! I suspect I can’t fail. Thanks so much for this incredible-looking dish!
I love fish and coconut curry combination and yours looks delicious! I’d try it right niw if I had fish in the fridge. Tomorrow.
My sister asked me to prepare a fish dish with coconut sauce (and w/out a curry/thai spin) for her and my 2 year old nephew, i found this dish and cannot wait to make it, but i see only one person has reported that they actually prepared it…i will give my report. i also wanted to say i love the way you set up your site, the photos are wonderful and the commentary a pleasure to read. thank you so much!
Oh that looks wonderful, great photos & recipe too
A quick question - do you think this would work with tilapia, or not so much?
Hi Sandy - I think it would work well with tilapia, tilapia has a very mild taste and works great in saucy dishes like this one, you’ll probably want to reduce the cooking time since the tilapia filets are usually thinner than halibut filets.
OMG this is got my mouth watering!
hi Layla,
What type of other fish do you recommend for this dish. The Halibut at my Wholefood market was very expensive. It was about $30 for one pound and a quarter. I had to leave it. Any suggestions?
maria
Maria - Go for any fish that looks fresh, it works well with any type of fish (or seafood) you can try tilapia, cod, monkfish, etc.
Hi Laylita,
While living in Esmeraldas I learned to make encocado. We make it using salmon and we love it. We found your site while looking for a pan de yuca recipe. You are now in our favorites bookmark. It brings good memories and we like the explanations you give for each dish. Great site!
Xavito y Karita
Hola
Saludos desde españa
Es genial la pagina felicitaciones espero colaborar con ustedes necesito enseñar y prender soy cocinero ecuatoriano que trabaja y vive en España.
las fotografias y su calidad son espectaculares espero unirme al mundo fantastico de la cocina internacional saludos espero respuestas y propuestas
con afecto
German
OMG!!! One of my favorite Ecuadorian restaurants in Chicago makes this and I have been looking for a recipe. I can not wait to make this at home with shrimp!!!
The pictures are a perfect guide too. Thanks!
Laylita,
Thank you for a great recipe. I took a shot at preparing this meal and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was. I used cod and shrimp for my recipe and the meal turned out fantastic! It will now be a regular in our home menu rotation. For those that have not tried it yet….what are you waiting for? This is the kind of meal that leaves you rubbin’ your belly with a grin on your face when you’re all done licking the plate.
Layita:
The most delicious fish i ever taste, tahnk you for the recipe, it was amazing!! Every single flavor is just perfect!!
i recomend this recipe a lot to any coconut and fish lover!!
I just made some fish with this sauce and it came out wonderful! I did make one major deviation though - I used almond milk instead of coconut milk. Same consistency and not too drastic a flavor difference. Regardless, it came out fantastic and was incredibly easy to make. Every component of this recipe would work incredibly well on its own. The marinade for this fish is a great idea as well. And of course, the sofrito and milk is delicious. Also, the fish I used was tilapia and after about 20 minutes it was perfect.