Recipe: Fish Stew from el Mar Menor (Caldero al estilo del Mar Menor)

FISH STEW FROM EL MAR MENOR
(CALDERO AL ESTILO DEL MAR MENOR)

The different types of fish are very typical of the Mar Menor area and give the stew its characteristic flavor.

1 angler tail
1 sea spider
1 John Dory
1 onion
3 to 4 cloves garlic, crushed, divided
1 bay leaf
1/2 kg potatoes
water
salt
6 whitings
6 red mullets
3/4 kg gray mullet
2 chili peppers
400g rice
200g ali-oli (a garlic and olive oil sauce)

Cook the angler, sea spider, John Dory, the onion (in quarter pieces), a clove of garlic and a bay leaf together with several small potatoes in water to which salt has been added. Poach the ingredients for half an hour on a low heat.

Then add the whitings, red and gray mullets and cook for another ten or fifteen minutes.

Add the two fried chili peppers and two or three cloves of garlic (all of it crushed). Remove the broth from the heat and take out the fish, the angler tail and the potatoes. Remove the bones and leave them with a little broth near the heat. Strain off the rest of the broth, crush the remaining pieces and pass them through a strainer.

Use the broth to prepare rice which should be rather soupy.

Serve the rice first and then the fish arranged on a separate plate with the potatoes. A rather strong ali-oli sauce is served as an accompaniment.