Spanish · dessert
50m
Total time
6
Servings
—
kcal
medium
Difficulty
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FAQ · Things people ask
Three things must all be right: the custard must be thick enough (pulling away from the pan in a single mass), it must be chilled long enough (overnight is far more reliable than 3 hours), and the oil must be at 170–180°C (340–355°F). If any one of those is off, the squares will leak or collapse. The most common culprit is taking the custard off the heat too early — it should be borderline alarming how thick it is before you pour it into the tray.
Some recipes do — the result is silkier and more translucent, with a texture closer to Chinese douhua or Korean sujeonggwa jelly. However, all-cornstarch custard can be more fragile during frying, and the squares are more likely to crack. The flour-and-cornstarch blend is the most forgiving for a first attempt.
The custard slab can absolutely be made ahead — it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days before frying. Once fried, leche frita is best eaten immediately. Leftovers can be eaten at room temperature or warmed in a 150°C oven for 8–10 minutes to re-crisp — but do not microwave them, as the coating becomes soggy.
The flavor depends heavily on whole dairy milk — oat milk can substitute for a similar viscosity and the custard will set, but the rich, milky character of the dish changes noticeably. Egg yolks can be replaced with an extra tablespoon of cornstarch, though the richness and golden color are reduced. For a dairy-free try, it is still worth making — just manage expectations.
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Walk into any tapas bar in Spain — Madrid, Seville, Barcelona — and you will almost certainly find a small earthenware dish of ensaladilla rusa waiting on the counter. Creamy, set, scoopable, and deeply savory, it is one of those dishes that looks deceptively simple and rewards anyone who makes it properly at home. The name means 'little Russian salad,' a nod to the Olivier salad created in 1860s Moscow that eventually reached Spain and was quietly transformed. The extravagant game meats and seafood of the Russian original gave way to pantry staples, and canned tuna — one of Spain's most beloved ingredients — became the defining feature. What emerged is a dish distinctly Spanish in character: generous with mayonnaise, deeply flavored with good olive oil tuna, and built for the table, not the fridge door. The keys to getting it right: cook the vegetables separately so nothing is over- or underdone, let everything go fully cold before the mayo goes in, cut everything to a uniform small dice so each forkful carries all the flavors, and — critically — give it time. A few hours minimum, overnight if you can. The patience pays off in a salad that tastes like it came from a real tapas kitchen.
Boquerones en aceite con olivas is one of the great simplest things in Spanish food — fresh anchovies acid-cured in vinegar, then drained, dried, and dressed in good olive oil with raw garlic, flat-leaf parsley, and green olives alongside. It is quintessentially Andalusian, rooted in the coastal markets of Málaga where European anchovies are caught fresh in spring and summer and have been cured this way long before refrigeration existed. A word on what you are making: this is not raw fish. The vinegar denatures the proteins completely — turning the flesh white and opaque, just as heat would — through a process called acid denaturation. The result occupies its own sensory space: firmer than sashimi, softer than heat-cooked fish, clean and briny and bright rather than fishy. It has absolutely nothing to do with the brown, salt-cured anchovies in a tin. Two things make or break this dish. First, food safety: fresh anchovies must be frozen at −20°C / −4°F for at least 24 hours before you cure them. This eliminates anisakis, a parasitic worm found in wild anchovies that survives acid-curing. This is not optional, and it is not covered by refrigerating the fish overnight. Commercially frozen anchovies (most of what you will find outside coastal Spain) are already frozen to the required temperature; confirm with your fishmonger if buying something labeled 'fresh.' Second, the olive oil: after the vinegar is washed away, the fillets absorb the dressing directly. A mediocre oil will dominate the delicate fish. Use the best Spanish extra virgin olive oil you can find. Active prep is about 30 minutes. Then the fillets cure unattended in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours. The dish can be made the morning of and held in its olive oil dressing, covered, in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
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