Patarashca de pescado

Cook the cassava accompaniment.Bring the 1200 ml water to a full boil. Add peeled, cored yuca and simmer for 25 minutes until a knife enters easily and there is no firm white core. Drain and hold hot. The yuca separates softly along its fibres and the core is tender. Safety: use correctly prepared edible cassava and cook it thoroughly; never eat it raw.

Prepare the aromatic filling.Combine diced onion, tomato, sacha culantro, ají dulce, minced garlic, 10 ml oil, 2 g salt and lime juice in a bowl. Toss until vegetables are evenly seasoned. The filling is moist and aromatic but not soupy.

Soften bijao and portion the fish.Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Briefly pass the 8 cleaned bijao leaves over gentle heat or steam until flexible. Dry the 4 fish fillets with kitchen paper and season them with 4 g salt. The leaves bend without splitting and the fish surfaces are free of excess water. Safety: use separate utensils for raw fish and prepared vegetables.

Wrap each fish fillet.Lay two warmed leaves in a cross for each portion. Brush with the remaining 15 ml oil, place one fish portion in each, divide all filling equally and fold into snug packets with closed seams. No fish or vegetable pieces project outside the leaf wrapper.

Roast the closed parcels.Roast on a tray at 200 °C for 22 minutes. Insert a thermometer through the thickest part of one parcel: fish must register at least 63 °C. Continue cooking in brief intervals if not yet at temperature. Fish flakes along natural layers and juices are gently steaming inside the leaf. Safety: freshwater fish may harbour parasites; fully cook to at least 63 °C rather than trusting lime juice.

Open and serve.Transfer parcels to plates and open carefully away from the face to release steam. Put a quarter of the hot yuca alongside each serving; discard the bijao leaves before eating. The fish stays in tender flakes and the vegetable filling has softened without drying out. Safety: beware of steam burns and refrigerate remaining fish promptly.