WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
A light rust orange in color, classic amarillo sauce is a mole-style sauce from Oaxaca that includes chiles, tomatillos, and masa harina as a thickener. We wanted to create a lively, tangy, slightly spicy version of this sauce to dress up mild white fish. Through typically aji
amarillo chiles are used, most modern recipes use guajillos, which we found gave the mole a pleasant, mild heat. We complemented that chile flavor with some warm spices. Our aromatic base benefited from the addition of clam broth, which provided a subtle seafood backbone. We cooked the tomatillos only briefly, to preserve their bright, tart flavor, before pureeing the sauce in the blender. We cooked the cod fillets simply, sprinkling them with just a bit of sugar to accelerate browning. This shortened the cooking time and ensured that the fish didn’t dry out. Halibut, sea bass, and red snapper are good substitutes for the cod. Because most fish fillets differ in thickness, some pieces may finish cooking before others—be sure to immediately remove any fillet that reaches 140 degrees. You will need a 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet for this recipe.
SERVES: 4
TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 guajillo chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into ½-inch pieces (6 tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 tablespoons masa harina
- 1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
- 8 ounces tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed well and dried, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 6 sprigs cilantro
- Salt and pepper
- 4 (6-to 8-ounce) skinless cod fillets, 1 to 1½ inches thick
- ½ teaspoon sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Toast Guajillo chiles in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 2 to 6 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the now-empty saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, cloves, and allspice and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in masa harina and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in clam juice, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps.
- Stir in tomatillos, cilantro sprigs, guajillos, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until tomatillos begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Carefully transfer mixture to a blender and process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Return to a clean pot and cover to keep warm.
- Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Pat cod dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle sugar lightly over 1 side of each fillet.
- Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch oven-safe nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Lay fillets, sugared side down, in the skillet and press lightly to ensure even contact with the skillet. Cook until browned, 1 to 1½ minutes.
- Turn fillets over using 2 spatulas and transfer skillet to the oven. Roast cod until fish flakes apart when gently prodded with a paring knife and registers 140 degrees, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Serve with the sauce.
