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São Miguel Fish and seafood

Fried Blue Jack Mackerel with Vilão Sauce

Recipe for fried chicharros with molho vilão from São Miguel: small mackerel in cornmeal with a hot sauce of garlic, wine, vinegar and red pepper paste.

Makes
4 servings
Prep
15 min
Cooking
25 min
Waiting
30 min
Difficulty
Easy

In the Azores, chicharro is the name for the blue jack mackerel, a small fish that is plentiful in the archipelago's waters and has long had a place in island cooking. On São Miguel it is most often eaten fried in a cornmeal coating and topped with molho vilão, a hot sauce of garlic, fat, vinegar, wine and pimenta da terra (Azorean red pepper paste).

It is everyday food, at home and in the island's taverns. In Ribeira Quente, a fishing parish in the municipality of Povoação, the fish gives its name to the Festa do Chicharro, usually held in early July.

Method

  1. Rinse the cleaned fish, season with salt and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

  2. Heat the oil well in a deep frying pan.

  3. Coat the fish in cornmeal and fry them in batches on both sides until golden and crisp. Drain and arrange on a serving platter.

  4. For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a small pan and fry the garlic until lightly golden, without letting it burn.

  5. Stir in the pepper paste and, if using, the paprika and açafroa (or açafrão).

  6. Add the wine and vinegar, bring to the boil and stir for a few minutes.

  7. Remove from the heat, taste and only then adjust the salt. Add the parsley, if using.

  8. Pour the hot sauce over the fish, or serve it on the side in a bowl.

Tips

  • The smaller the fish, the better. Outside the Azores, use small horse mackerel.
  • Pimenta da terra is already salty, so taste the sauce before adding salt.
  • Without pimenta da terra, use a hot red chilli paste, or sweet paprika with a pinch of chilli flakes.
  • Every household has its own version: some use vinho de cheiro (a local wine), some add açafroa or açafrão (a local spice that colours the sauce), some swap the vinegar for lemon juice, and some make the sauce with a little of the frying oil.
  • Serve with boiled potatoes and salad.

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