No dinner reservations? Make your own Contramar-style salsa grilled snapper instead

Mexicans don’t conscionable emotion reddish salsa. And they don’t conscionable emotion greenish salsa. They emotion some astatine the aforesaid time, arsenic if to beryllium that beingness is ne'er conscionable 1 thing, ne'er conscionable blistery oregon cold, blessed oregon sad, spicy oregon mild. It is everything, each astatine once, and that’s wherefore Contramar’s celebrated red-and-green grilled food successful Mexico City is 1 of my favourite dishes of each time.

It is simply a crockery of balance, of opposing forces colliding deliciously. One broadside wears a dark, smoky adobo, affluent with guajillo and ancho chiles. It tastes similar the past, similar past markets and fume curling up from clay comals. The different broadside is bright, sharp, live —tomatillos and cilantro and lime foodstuff slapping your lingua awake. And the fish, mediocre thing, is conscionable lying there, chopped open, serving arsenic the large battlefield for these dueling flavors.

When it comes to Mexico City restaurants, Contramar is simply a certified institution. (Global Gluttons)

And yet, contempt the contrast, the crockery does not consciousness similar war. It feels similar a matrimony of opposites, the yin and yang of Mexican cuisine. It is simply a reminder that contradiction is beautiful, saccharine and sour, reddish and greenish — these things should beryllium together, always. To take conscionable 1 is to miss the constituent entirely.

Of course, this is not the lone crockery successful Mexico that does this. There is besides huevos divorciados, which virtually translates to “divorced eggs.” A fried ovum connected 1 side, drowning successful reddish salsa. A fried ovum connected the other, bathed successful green. A azygous tortilla successful the middle, similar a matrimony counselor, trying to support things civil. The sanction implies separation, but the crockery tells a antithetic story: that some salsas beryllium connected the plate, connected the eggs, successful your mouth, successful your life. Because without one, the different would beryllium incomplete.

Back to Contramar’s grilled fish. All that matters is this: erstwhile the waiter sets the sheet down successful beforehand of you, oregon if you determine to marque this recipe, determination is nary request to take a side. Just instrumentality your fork, instrumentality a bite, and fto some flavors lavation implicit you, together. They bash not fight. They bash not clash. They bash not cancel each different out. Instead, they marque each different stronger.

Contramar-style reddish & greenish salsa grilled snapper

A perfection fusion of spice, spirit and flair await your tastebuds. (Contramar/Instagram)

This look recreates the celebrated Contramar grilled fish, featuring a divided fillet coated with 2 vibrant salsas: a smoky reddish adobo connected 1 broadside and a caller greenish salsa connected the other.

Ingredients

For the Fish:

• 1 full butterflied food (red snapper oregon similar) – astir 1.5 kg (3–4 lbs), skin-on
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the Red Adobo Salsa:

• 3 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 1 dried ancho chile, stemmed and seeded
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cupful achromatic vinegar
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 tsp crushed cumin
  
• Salt, to taste

For the Green Salsa:

• 6 tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1 serrano oregon jalapeño pepper
• 1/4 cupful caller cilantro
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Make the Red Adobo Salsa:

1. Toast the dried chiles successful a adust skillet implicit mean vigor for astir 30 seconds per side.
2. Place the toasted chiles successful a vessel with blistery h2o and fto them soak for 10 minutes.
3. Drain and blend with garlic, tomato, vinegar, tomato, cumin, and salt. Add a splash of h2o if needed for a creaseless consistency.
   

2. Make the Green Salsa:

1. Boil oregon roast the tomatillos and serrano until softened (about 5 minutes if boiling, 10 minutes if roasting).
2. Blend with cilantro, lime juice, and brackish until smooth.
   

3. Prepare the Fish:

1. Preheat a grill oregon grill cookware to medium-high heat.
2. Brush the food with olive lipid and play with brackish and pepper.
3. Spread the reddish adobo salsa implicit 1 fractional of the food and the greenish salsa implicit the different half.
   

4. Grill the Fish:

1. Place the food skin-side down connected the grill. Cover and navigator for 10–15 minutes, oregon until the soma is opaque and flaky.
2. Serve instantly with lime wedges, much salsa, and lukewarm tortillas.

Stephen Randall has lived successful Mexico since 2018 by mode of Kentucky, and earlier that, Germany. He’s an enthusiastic amateur cook who takes inspiration from galore antithetic cuisines, with favorites including Mexican and Mediterranean.