Mexican Baked Fish Veracruz-Style with Toasted Sesame

About This Recipe

Pescado a la veracruzana is one of Mexico's most recognized coastal dishes, hailing from the port city of Veracruz, where Spanish and Caribbean culinary influences meet: fish baked in a sauce of tomatoes, green olives, capers, and pickled jalapeños, reflecting the city's centuries of trade history. This version adds a scattering of toasted sesame seeds over the finished dish, a modern textural touch not traditional to the original but a natural complement to the sauce's briny, tangy character. The technique is about building the sauce properly before the fish goes in: onions and garlic sauté until soft, tomatoes cook down until they lose their raw edge, and olives and capers are stirred in near the end so they don't turn the whole sauce overly salty. The fish then bakes directly in that sauce, absorbing its flavor as it gently cooks through. Served with white rice to soak up the sauce, this dish showcases how Veracruz's coastal cuisine differs from the chile-heavy cooking of central Mexico -- briny, herbal, and Mediterranean-influenced rather than fiery.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4white fish fillets(snapper or tilapia, about 150g each)
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 1onion(thinly sliced)
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 4tomatoes(diced, or 1 can crushed tomatoes)
• 0.5 cupgreen olives(pitted and halved)
• 2 tbspcapers
• 2pickled jalapeños(sliced)
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspsesame seeds(toasted)
• 2 tbspcilantro(chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the sauce base

   Heat olive oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Cook onion 6-7 minutes until soft, then add garlic and cook 1 minute.

2. 2

   Cook the tomatoes

   Add tomatoes, bay leaf, and oregano. Simmer 12-15 minutes until the tomatoes break down and the sauce thickens.

3. 3

   Add olives and capers

   Stir in olives, capers, pickled jalapeños, and salt. Simmer 3 more minutes.

4. 4

   Add the fish

   Preheat oven to 190C/375F. Nestle fish fillets into the sauce, spooning some sauce over the top.

5. 5

   Bake

   Bake uncovered 12-15 minutes until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Remove the bay leaf. Scatter toasted sesame seeds and cilantro over the top, and serve hot with white rice.

Variations

• •

  Add sliced potatoes to the sauce for a heartier, one-pan meal.

• •

  Use shrimp instead of fish fillets, reducing the baking time to 6-8 minutes.

• •

  Add a splash of white wine to the sauce for extra depth, common in restaurant versions.

Storage

Refrigerate fish and sauce together up to 2 days. Reheat gently in a low oven or on the stovetop over low heat to avoid overcooking the fish further.

Frequently Asked Questions