Spanish cuisine · Fish & Seafood

Sardine Escabeche

Briefly fried sardines that soak in a warm marinade of wine vinegar, olive oil, bay leaf and paprika.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 800 g sardines (oven-ready)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 150 ml white wine vinegar
• 150 ml olive oil
• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Rinse the sardines inside and out under cold water, pat very dry, season with salt and dust thinly all over with flour.
2. Heat 4 tbsp of the olive oil in a wide pan and fry the sardines in batches for 1–2 min. per side until the skin is golden; remove and lay side by side in a shallow dish.
3. Slice the garlic, shave the onion into fine rings and sweat both in the remaining olive oil over low heat for 5–6 min. until translucent, without letting the garlic brown.
4. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the paprika and cumin – otherwise the paprika turns bitter – and deglaze with the white wine vinegar and 100 ml water.
5. Add the bay leaves, let the broth simmer gently uncovered for 5 min., season with salt and pepper and pour it still hot over the sardines until just covered.
6. Let cool completely and chill for at least 12 hrs., then serve at room temperature with some of the broth and white bread as a tapa.