Pan-fried hake on the bone with Arbequina olive oil mash, surf clams, chorizo and flat parsley
Meaty white fish, clams and chorizo are a classic combination in this tapa dish. Serve with a glass of chilled manzanilla sherry.
Ingredients
For the mash
- 1 large potato, preferably Desirée variety, peeled and evenly diced
- 10g/¼oz unsalted butter
- 5 tbsp double cream
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 125ml/4fl oz Arbequina olive oil
For the hake
- 2 x trimmed and cleaned darnes of hake, about 200g/7oz each
- olive oil, for cooking
- 125g/4½oz hot cooking chorizo, peeled and diced
- 1 small banana shallot, peeled and diced
- 16 surf clams, washed
- 50ml/2fl oz manzanilla sherry
- 50ml/2fl oz white wine
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- 1 sprig flat leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
- lemon juice, to taste
Method
For the mash, place the potatoes in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender and then drain well and push through a ricer.
Return the potatoes to the pan over a low heat and then stir in the butter and cream. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper then slowly whisk in the olive oil until thoroughly combined. Set the pan aside in a warm place.
For the hake, heat a non-stick pan over a high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Season the hake darnes with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and place them in the pan.
Sear on one side for two minutes, turn onto the other side and add the chorizo, shallots and clams.
Cook for a further minute until the chorizo has started to release its oil and the clams have started to open.
Drain off a little of the oil then add the sherry and wine. Bring to the boil and reduce the sauce then turn the hake again and add the butter and parsley.
Stir the sauce to emulsify it, scraping the sediment from the bottom of the pan to add extra flavour. The sauce should have a syrupy consistency and the hake cooked through – the flesh should be opaque when a small knife is inserted near the bone. Check the sauce for seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
To serve, spoon some of the mash onto a serving plate, top with the hake, spoon over the sauce and scatter around the clams and chorizo.