Peruvian
Jalea Mixta
A crisp, delicate tangle of fried fish, shrimp, and squid crowns golden yuca beneath a last-minute shower of lime-bright salsa criolla.
4 servings · 50 minutes prep · 45 minutes cook
Ingredients
Salsa criolla
- 1 large red onion, sliced feather-thin
- 1 medium Roma tomato, seeded and diced
- 1 small ají limo or red serrano chile, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3/4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Seafood
- 12 oz firm white fish, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 8 oz large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 8 oz cleaned squid, bodies cut into rings; tentacles separated
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Coating and frying
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, reserved for seasoning after frying
- 1 1/2 lb yuca root, peeled, fibrous core removed, cut into thick batons
- 8 cups neutral oil, or enough for 3 inches depth
Directions
Prepare the salsa and yuca
- Rinse red onion in ice water for 2 minutes, then drain and dry thoroughly. Combine it with roma tomatoes, ají limo, and cilantro, but hold the salsa lime juice and the salsa salt until serving.
- Cover yuca root with cool salted water in a large pot. Simmer until a knife enters easily but the batons remain intact, 18-25 minutes. Drain, remove any remaining central fibers, and spread on a rack until the surfaces are dry, at least 10 minutes.
Season and dredge the seafood
- Heat neutral oil in a Dutch oven to {{temperature:350F}}. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan.
- Toss firm white fish fillets, large shrimp, and squid with the seafood salt, black pepper, garlic cloves, and the seafood lime juice. Marinate for exactly 10 minutes, then drain and blot exceptionally dry.
- Whisk all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and ground cumin. Dredge each seafood type separately in a thin coat immediately before it enters the oil; shake away all loose excess.
Fry in separate batches
- Reserve the frying salt beside the rack. Fry the yuca in uncrowded batches until deep golden and crisp outside, 4-6 minutes. Drain on the rack and season while hot with roughly one-third of the reserved salt. Return the oil to {{temperature:350F}}.
- Fry the fish until crisp and opaque at the edges with a moist center at {{temperature:145F}}, 2-3 minutes. Drain on the rack and season lightly with some of the reserved salt.
- Return the oil to {{temperature:350F}}. Fry the shrimp until crisp, pink, and just opaque, 90 seconds-2 minutes; drain. Fry the squid last, only until curled and opaque, 45-60 seconds; drain immediately. Season both lightly with the remaining reserved salt.
Assemble at the last moment
- Toss the prepared salsa with its reserved lime juice and salt. Taste and drain off any pooled liquid.
- Arrange hot yuca on a wide platter, pile the fish, shrimp, and squid above it, and spoon the salsa loosely over the top immediately before serving. Do not cover the hot platter or let dressed salsa stand on the crust.
