Red Snapper Tikin Xic – Anthony Salemme

May 19, 2022/Anthony Salemme

By Anthony Salemme

A beautiful summer seafood meal to make for guests.

Pronounced “teekeen sheek” in Yucatec Mayan and meaning “dry fish”, is a fish dish prepared in the Meso-American style. I have had this many times visiting the Yucatán in the winter.

6 red snapper fillets (about 6 ounces each)

2 jalapeños, stemmed and seeded, chopped fine

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons white vinegar

4 ounces (or 6 tablespoons) achiote paste (can be found in the Goya aisle)

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white onion, sliced thin

3 plum tomatoes sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black

In a bowl, dissolve the achiote with half the lime and orange juice and vinegar then add the garlic and oil and stir to make a paste. You can use an immersion blender for this.

Rub the paste on both sides of the fish.

Lay out 6 pieces of parchment paper and place one portion of Snapper on each top with onions, jalapeño and sliced tomatoes. Fold the parchment over the fish to make a pouch.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or you can do this on the BBQ but additionally wrap each pouch with foil.