Pescado Rodrigo is one of the most beloved dishes in Mexico City. I make it at least a couple of times a month. Fresh fish, seared until crispy then drizzled with a chunky citrus sauce, is the seafood to stuff into a corn tortilla for tacos. The recipe comes from the Bellinghausen, a classic old-school Mexico City restaurant, established in 1915 and cherished by many families, including ours. Its old hacienda style, complete with tiles and a working fountain, is so dignified and grandiose that my sisters and I used to dress to the nines to eat there on Sundays. The menu never changes, ever. And it doesn't need to.
I always have a jar of capers in my fridge - they're a great shortcut to a good punchy flavor. Here, they cut through the rich oily fish. This dish can be made in only a few minutes. I like to serve it with just some simply boiled new potatoes. Instead of salmon, it would be as good with fresh mackerel, an equally oily fish.
Note: This dish is prepared only 2 servings at a time because increasing the number of shrimp beyond 12 would require increasing the dish's amount of sauce. Reducing the larger amount of sauce would require more cooking time, resulting in over-cooked shrimp.
Note: Keep the oysters refrigerated in their juices until needed.
Miso tends to burn when broiling, so be very careful that the fish is not close to the heat source. Also do not forget to oil the grill with a mild oil such as rapeseed. The miso dries out on the skin, giving the fish a slight crust and a moist center.
Don't have a clue what to fix for dinner tonight? This dish is always a great solution to that problem. The tomatoes and parsley are the only fresh ingredients you need; everything else is probably in your fridge or pantry. For a splurge, use Spanish tuna in olive oil; for a bargain, try Genova brand, also in olive oil but half the price.
Ingredients
This dish is an inventive crossbreeding of two classic dishes: sole amandine, in which the fish is finished with sautéed sliced almonds, and sole meunière, in which the fish, often whole, is sautéed in browned butter. In my version, I use baby flounder (easier to find in the market here than true sole), lightly coat the fillets with ground almonds, sauté them in browned butter, and serve them with toasted almonds and a sprinkling of parsley (borrowed from the meunière). It's a marriage of equal partners and one that I think would easily win familial approval on both sides of the aisle.
For my money rich tasting, sweet/salt gravlax beats out smoked salmon in the luxurious treat department. The lagniappes here are that gravlax is far less expensive than smoked salmon, and a little goes a long way.