Name: Escabeche de pescado
Prep time: 22 min
Cook time: 44 min
Total time: 111 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 800 g firm boneless fish fillets, four 200 g portions, patted dry. Bonito or firm white fish; refrigerated; 55 g plain wheat flour, for light coating. Excess removed; 450 g orange-fleshed sweet potato, peeled, sliced thickly. Boiled accompaniment; 650 ml water, measured. For cooking the sweet potato only, then discarded; 35 ml vegetable oil, measured. 24 ml fish, 11 ml sauce; 4 g fine salt, measured. 2 g fish, 2 g sauce; 340 g red onion, thickly sliced. For acidulated sauce; 75 ml red wine vinegar, measured. For sauce; do not treat as preserving quantity; 55 g ají amarillo paste, prepared yellow chilli paste. Sauce; 35 g ají panca paste, ground dried red chilli. Sauce; 50 g fresh ají amarillo, deseeded, thin strips. Sauce; 10 g garlic, minced. Sauce; 200 ml unsalted fish stock, measured. Sauce; 1 g ground cumin, measured. Sauce; 1 g dried oregano, crumbled. Sauce

Escabeche de pescado — Peruvian home recipe

Yield 4 portions

Prep time 22 minutes

Cook time 44 minutes

Passive time 45 minutes

Total time 111 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Escabeche de pescado — Peruvian home recipe

Peruvian escabeche de pescado combines two cooked elements: a pan-fried fish fillet and an onion sauce sharpened with vinegar and coloured with ají panca and ají amarillo. It is a different preparation from chorrillana. Here, the characteristic contrast is the tangy red chilli-and-onion covering, not a fresh tomato topping.

The fish is dusted lightly with flour and cooked before the sauce is poured over it. The thick onion slices are softened just enough to lose their raw bite without dissolving. A short refrigerated rest allows the sauce to settle across the fish; its vinegar has a flavour role but must never be interpreted as making fish shelf-stable.

Sweet potato is included as a measured accompaniment, providing a gentler flavour next to the acidic sauce. Chill the entire prepared dish promptly in a shallow container and serve it cool. Egg, olives and other additions may appear elsewhere, but they are not part of this exact measured plate.

Ingredients

Fish and sweet potato

800 g firm boneless fish fillets, four 200 g portions, patted dry. Bonito or firm white fish; refrigerated
55 g plain wheat flour, for light coating. Excess removed
450 g orange-fleshed sweet potato, peeled, sliced thickly. Boiled accompaniment
650 ml water, measured. For cooking the sweet potato only, then discarded
35 ml vegetable oil, measured. 24 ml fish, 11 ml sauce
4 g fine salt, measured. 2 g fish, 2 g sauce

Vinegar and ají sauce

340 g red onion, thickly sliced. For acidulated sauce
75 ml red wine vinegar, measured. For sauce; do not treat as preserving quantity
55 g ají amarillo paste, prepared yellow chilli paste. Sauce
35 g ají panca paste, ground dried red chilli. Sauce
50 g fresh ají amarillo, deseeded, thin strips. Sauce
10 g garlic, minced. Sauce
200 ml unsalted fish stock, measured. Sauce
1 g ground cumin, measured. Sauce
1 g dried oregano, crumbled. Sauce

Method

Simmer the sweet potato.Put the 450 g peeled sweet-potato slices in a small covered saucepan with all 650 ml listed water, not the measured fish stock. Simmer for 16 minutes, then drain fully. The slices are tender to a thin knife but remain whole.
Coat the firm fish portions.Dry all 800 g fish and rub with 2 g of the measured salt. Dust each piece thinly with the 55 g flour on a clean plate, shaking off excess. The fish has a fine dry coating with no loose flour clumps.
Pan-fry the fish thoroughly.Heat 24 ml vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the four fish portions in two rounds of 8 minutes each, turning carefully and checking the thickest part before transfer to a shallow clean dish. The exterior is lightly browned and the fish separates into flakes with gentle pressure. Each piece of fish must reach 63 °C in its thickest part.
Cook the chilli and garlic base.In a clean saucepan heat the remaining 11 ml oil. Stir in 10 g garlic, 55 g ají amarillo paste, 35 g ají panca paste, 1 g cumin and 1 g oregano over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. The chilli paste is fragrant and its raw edge has softened without scorching.
Soften the onion in tangy sauce.Add 340 g thick red-onion pieces, 50 g sliced fresh ají, 75 ml red wine vinegar, 200 ml fish stock and the remaining 2 g salt. Simmer for 7 minutes and spoon carefully over the cooked fish. The onion is flexible but intact and the sauce is acidic, loose and vivid red-orange.
Refrigerate the dressed fish.Transfer the fish and warm sauce to a clean shallow food-safe container and refrigerate promptly at 4 °C or below for 45 minutes; do not leave the dish on a warm counter to marinate. The fish and onion topping are uniformly cool and the flavours are melded without warmth at the centre.
Arrange the final plate.Divide the fish and sauce between four plates and add an even share of the cooked sweet-potato slices. The fish remains intact under a visible onion-and-ají topping and the sweet potato sits alongside.

Practical

Success points

Use vinegar for flavour, not for room-temperature preservation. Keep the onion pieces visible; a long boil removes the desirable bite.

Practical guidance

This escabeche must remain refrigerated: it is not canned, fermented, acid-tested or safe for storage at room temperature. Put portions into shallow containers promptly, at 4 °C or colder, and use within 24–48 hours for texture and handling rather than treating vinegar as a preservation guarantee. If reheating a portion, bring the fish to 74 °C; cool service is preferred after the first cooking. A firm fish holds its shape under the sauce better than an extremely delicate fillet. Do not return raw fish utensils to the cooked serving dish.

Control points

The sauce tastes harshly rawThe ají and garlic were heated too briefly. Cook the aromatics gently before adding the onion and vinegar.
Onions become limp and shapelessThe sauce simmered too long. Use thick slices and stop while their structure remains visible.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Serving size1 of 4 equal plated portions
Calories442 kcal
Carbohydrate43 g
Protein45 g
Fat10 g
Fibre6 g
Sodium670 mg

Allergens and food safety

Fish and wheat gluten from flour; red wine vinegar may contain sulfites and stock may contain additional allergens. Maintain separation between raw meat or fish, clean equipment and ready-to-eat ingredients; wash hands and tools after contact with raw animal food. Chill perishable food promptly in shallow covered containers at 4 °C or below and within 2 hours; avoid prolonged room-temperature standing. Cooked leftovers, when permitted by the recipe-specific guidance, must be reheated to 74 °C. Each piece of fish must reach 63 °C in its thickest part. Cook fish and raw shellfish to at least 63 °C in the thickest part; citrus and vinegar do not substitute for heat. Follow FDA seafood buying and refrigeration guidance. Vinegar-flavoured escabeche is not shelf-stable and is not a validated preserving, fermentation or canning procedure.

Closing

Result: Pan-fried fish is covered with a warm vinegar, ají panca and red-onion escabeche sauce, then refrigerated briefly before serving with cooked sweet potato.
Decisive control: Use vinegar for flavour, not for room-temperature preservation.