Name: Gamitana rellena
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 125 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 1500 g whole gamitana fish, commercially sourced, scaled, gutted and cleaned (about 700 g cooked edible fish flesh, depending on bone); 420 g edible sweet cassava (yuca), peeled, cut into 3 cm pieces, never bitter cassava; 1200 ml water, for cassava cooking; 120 g red onion, finely chopped; 100 g red sweet pepper, finely chopped; 140 g tomato, seeded and diced; 12 g garlic, minced; 18 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped; 30 ml vegetable oil; 25 ml lime juice, freshly squeezed; 7 g salt; 1 g black pepper, ground

Gamitana rellena — Whole baked gamitana stuffed with yuca and vegetables

Yield 4 generous servings

Prep 35 minutes

Cook 80 minutes

Passive 10 minutes

Total 125 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Gamitana rellena — Whole baked gamitana stuffed with yuca and vegetables

Gamitana is a large Amazonian freshwater fish also known elsewhere as tambaqui. In Loreto, the fish appears in many preparations; a Peruvian regional food initiative has shown oven-baked gamitana stuffed with cassava and Amazonian seasonings. That example supports a cassava-filled local presentation, not a single standardized filling for every home.

Here, a whole cleaned gamitana holds a mixture of thoroughly cooked sweet cassava, onion, sweet pepper, tomato and chopped coriander. The pre-cooked filling lets the fish roast without a cold mass at its centre. It is kept loose rather than packed densely so heat can circulate through the cavity.

Buy a properly identified, commercially supplied fish that is already scaled and gutted. Have a fishmonger prepare the cavity rather than trying to dismantle a large bony fish at home. When carving, separate the flesh from the ribs and fine bones carefully; freshwater fish should always be thoroughly cooked.

Ingredients

1500 g whole gamitana fish, commercially sourced, scaled, gutted and cleaned (about 700 g cooked edible fish flesh, depending on bone)
420 g edible sweet cassava (yuca), peeled, cut into 3 cm pieces, never bitter cassava
1200 ml water, for cassava cooking
120 g red onion, finely chopped
100 g red sweet pepper, finely chopped
140 g tomato, seeded and diced
12 g garlic, minced
18 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped
30 ml vegetable oil
25 ml lime juice, freshly squeezed
7 g salt
1 g black pepper, ground

Method

Boil sweet cassava.Place the peeled sweet cassava in 1200 ml water; boil until tender, drain thoroughly, remove any tough central fibrous core and break into rough chunks. The yuca is tender all the way to the middle and has no rigid central core. For food safety, use properly identified sweet cassava only; do not taste or use raw or improperly processed bitter cassava.
Soften the vegetable stuffing.Warm 20 ml oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion, sweet pepper and garlic, then add tomato and stir until much of its liquid has evaporated. The vegetables are soft and the skillet has little free liquid.
Combine the filling.Fold cooked yuca, 12 g coriander, 2 g salt and half the lime juice into the vegetables. Cool only until safe to handle, keeping the preparation out of the danger zone for the shortest time. The filling holds together loosely without a pool of liquid. For food safety, do not leave cooked filling at room temperature for over 2 hours.
Season and fill the fish.Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Pat the gutted gamitana dry, rub with remaining 10 ml oil, 5 g salt, pepper and remaining 12.5 ml lime juice. Spoon the filling loosely inside, leaving space at the opening; place on a lined roasting tray. The cavity is loosely filled and the fish lies stable without tearing. For food safety, separate raw-fish tools from cooked filling and ready-to-eat herbs.
Roast and probe.Roast in the 190 °C oven until fish flesh and the centre of the stuffing both measure at least 74 °C. Probe without touching bone, and keep baking if either point falls short. The flesh lifts from larger bones, the stuffing is steaming and both measurement points reach 74 °C. For food safety, mandatory endpoint: at least 74 °C in both fish thickest flesh and centre of filling.
Carve and portion.Rest the fish briefly on the tray, then lift portions away from the backbone and rib bones. Share the warm yuca filling and finish with the remaining coriander. Four plates contain boneless inspected fish portions and a share of stuffing. For food safety, examine portions for fine bones before serving.

Practical

Success points

Cook the sweet cassava before filling, then probe the fish and stuffing at the thickest points. An uncrowded filling and a thermometer reading at the stuffing centre matter more than the colour of the skin.

Serving, storage and substitutions

Serve fish portions alongside their warm yuca-and-vegetable stuffing, removing visible bones as you carve. No claim is made that this filling is universal in Loreto. Refrigerate fish promptly at 4 °C or colder in shallow containers and use within 3–4 days; reheat to 74 °C before serving. Fish flesh becomes drier after reheating. Colombian shrimp-and-rice fillings are separate recipes, not equivalent to this cassava-and-herb Loreto presentation.

Control points

Filling remains cold in the centreit was packed too tightly — loosen it and continue baking until a probe reads 74 °C.
Fish dries while the filling heatspre-cook and drain yuca and vegetables before filling the cavity.

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Serving size1 of 4 servings
Calories480 kcal
Carbohydrates44 g
Protein42 g
Fat15 g
Fibre5 g
Sodium875 mg

Allergens and food safety

Fish. Cassava must be an edible sweet cultivar, peeled and properly cooked; raw or bitter cassava is unsafe. Use an approved fish seller and check the thickest fish flesh and stuffing centre with a probe thermometer.

Closing

Oven-roasted gamitana with a soft yuca, pepper and herb filling. Use a loose cooked filling and measure both its centre and the fish flesh.

Gamitana rellena — Whole baked gamitana stuffed with yuca and vegetables

Ingredients

Ingredients

Method

Practical

Success points

Serving, storage and substitutions

Control points

Nutrition per serving (estimated)

Allergens and food safety

Closing

Peruvian National Dishes

Mondongo huancavelicano

Paiche a la loretana

Thimpo de carachi