SIERRA EN ESCABECHE (Pickled King Fish)

While visiting friends in Puerto Rico I was asked to make a few dishes for a "fiesta" at our friend Elba's beautiful apartment in Isla Verde.


Foodalogue's next Culinary Tour is all about Puerto Rico and this post is very special to me because Joan was part of this "fiesta" as well as a few of our friends.  It was a great reunion as some of us do not see each other that often. Look for Foodalogue's post; it will be quite exciting and delicious!
For the fish:
12 1-inch slices of King Fish
flour for dredging
salt/pepper to taste
juice of 3 lemons
vegetable oil for frying

Procedure:
Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Pour lemon juice over fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat your vegetable oil and when hot start dredging your fish with the flour and immediately start to fry (at this time lower the heat) slowly until golden on both sides and fish is cooked. Drain on paper towels.

For the Escabeche:
2 cups of olive oil (not extra virgin)
1/4 cup white vinegar or to your taste
1 each red, green, orange and yellow peppers julienned
2 large red onions thinly sliced
2 large yellow onions thinly sliced
10 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tablespoons of back peppercorns
15 bay leaves
1/2 cup of Spanish olives stuffed with pimentos (drained)
4 tablespoons of capers (drained)

Procedure:
Heat your olive oil and add garlic and onions until they sweat a bit; add peppers, peppercorns, bay leaves and cook on very low flame until vegetables wilt, but do not lose their color. Take off flame and add the rest of the ingredients and let cool. Put some of the Escabeche mixture on bottom of a large deep glass or plastic receptacle and then place fish on top. Repeat layering until all the pieces of fish are covered with the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours so fish absorbs the liquids. I used a plastic container with a sealed top so you can invert once in a while letting the juices run through the fish.