Spend any time in the Yucatan or on Baja California and you will soon learn that the Mexicans know how to cook seafood; it ain’t all enchiladas and ground beef. And dorado (also known as mahi mahi or dolphinfish) is a highly sought-after fish in the Sea of Cortez.
I first saw a version of this dish in Diana Kennedy’s The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, but I have refined the technique here to modernize the dish. The recipe requires a lot of cilantro — two standard bunches from the supermarket. But if you hate cilantro, use parsley.
And while mahi mahi is not hard to find in the market, you can substitute yellowtail, striped bass, white seabass, a big snapper (what Kennedy uses in the original version), grouper, largemouth bass, or even catfish. You want a pretty firm fish here, and not an especially fatty one.
Serves 4 to 6.Â
- 2 to 3 pounds mahi mahi, yellowtail, striped bass or snapper
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
- Salt and black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 or 3 fire-roasted jalapenos, preserved in vinegar (or pickled jalapenos)
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cilantro
- 1/3 cup lime juice or lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons white vine vinegar
- 7 tablespoons olive oil
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[instructions]
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut the fish into serving portions and salt it well. Set it aside.
- Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a saute pan and saute the onions over high heat until they get a little charred on the edges.
- Find a casserole or lidded pot just large enough to hold all the fish. Pour the lime juice into the pot and lay down half the onions.
- Put the fish pieces on the onions, then lay the rest of the onions over the fish and drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover with foil or the lid. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick the fish pieces are.
- Meanwhile, buzz the garlic, jalapenos, white wine vinegar and all but 2 tablespoons of the cilantro in a food processor until it is pureed. Drizzle in the remaining olive oil with the motor running.
- When the fish is cooked, serve by laying down some of the cilantro sauce and topping each plate with some onions. The fish goes on the onions, and you can top with a little more sauce and the remaining chopped cilantro.
[/instructions]
Yes, freshly caught too. The lime did go nicely with the fish but it was one dimensional and the jalapeño was indistinguishable. I did salt the fish heavily as directed but that also was lost.
I tried several of your wild game recipes for rabbit and duck and all came out fantastic. This is my first time trying one of your fish recipes. I believe I followed the directions correctly, but the fish tasted very bland. – it seemed very uncharacteristic based on what I’ve read in your books. The sauce helped a tiny bit, so I’m wondering if you have any thoughts on what I might have done wrong.
Villy: Did you use dorado? This is also a very old recipe, one I need to update. Adding salt, lime and chile always help in this sort of recipe.
Recipe looks great, I’m going to try it at the weekend. Do you cook the fish skinned or with skin on?
Maurice: I skin dorado.
Absolutely the best salsa for fish I’ve ever had, everyone that tried it agreed.
Looks awesome, making it tomorrow we caught a lot of Dorado this season. What do you have for Yellow fin?
This was to die for. Made it for some buddy’s fresh from the ocean!
Brenda: Thanks for the catch! Fixed it.
I Love cilantro and your recipe was the first one that popped up. Lucky for me. This is so awesome and so quick and easy to make. Not to mention all ingredients I have in the frig on a regular basis. But a note, there is no mention of garlic in the ingredient list! Thanks for great eating!
Trying this out tonight! Of course, I forgot the jalapeños so I put green salsa in the mixer and it came out fabulous!
Awesome. What a great recipe. I saw this “funny” looking dolphin type fish and bought it, now I’ll cook it your way. Thanks Hank
This is a great recipe! You can’t go wrong with dorado, lime and cilantro but this is one of the best takes I’ve tried with these ingredients. Thanks, Hank.
Hank, you are a freaking Rock Star! I googled dorado recipe and not only was THIS the first result, but you obviously knew exactly what I had in my fridge to boot! Next time, I’ll head directly to honest-food.net instead of the dumb google thing. Thanks a bunch, buddy!