Fritos de pixín

There are a few fish that hold an emblematic place in Asturian cooking. There is the Tiñosu, made so famous by a Basque chef that even in Asturias it is better known as Cabracho. There is the ubiquitous Merluza in a thousand recipes, most famously Merluza a la sidra. And then there is the Pixín, the tastiest of all, in my opinion.

Found deep fried and served with a lemon wedge and a dollop of mayonnaise in pretty much every sidrería worthy of the name, Fritos de pixín is the premier bar snack in Asturias. Sweet, toothsome, and gently perfumed with garlic and lemon, this is bar far my favorite snack when drinking cider or beer during the summer

Ingredients

All ingredient quantities here are given per person. Scale as needed.

• 200g monkfish steaks, cleaned
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 lemon, juice only
• flour for coating
• 1 egg
• a splash of sidra natural
• Oil for frying

Instructions

1. Prepare your fish:
   1. Slice around the spine of the monkfish, leaving two roughly evenly sized filets
   2. Cut the filets into generous chunks
   3. Put the fish chunks into a glass bowl and mix with the garlic clove
   4. add the lemon juice and mix to coat
   5. Allow the fish to marinate for 3 hours
2. Prepare your batter:
   1. In a bowl mix your flour with a fat pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper.
   2. In a separate bowl mix the egg with the splash of cider and beat well
3. Heat your frying oil until very hot but not smoking
4. One by one, coat the pieces of monkfish first in flour and then in egg
5. Slip the pieces directly into the frying oil, taking care not to crowd the pan, or they batter will be oily and not crispy
6. After a few minutes, when the batter is a golden color, remove the fish from the fryer and drain on paper towels

Notes

• Spanish deep frying is almost always a single coat of flour followed by a dip in egg, then straight into the frying oil.
• Do not be tempted to get fancy with the batter. Monkfish is expensive precisely because it has amazing taste and texture, and you don't want to be doing things that will get in the way of allowing it to shine. Save the beer batter for other less interesting fish.