Limes and hot weather go together; I first had this at a three-walled restaurant in a Yucatán port on the Gulf of Mexico. I loved it immediately, and I love it still. It works just as well with shrimp as it does with flatfish. As for the chiles, the amount is your call. I like just a touch of heat—a pinch of cayenne does the trick for me—but this dish is often prepared scorchingly hot. Serve with rice (Mexican Rice, page 517, is good), or tortillas.

　　

Ingredients

4 servings

　　1/4 cup neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed

　　5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

　　Salt to taste

　　4 large or 8 small fillets of flounder or other flatfish, 1 1/2 pounds or more

　　3 small hot dried red chiles, or to taste

　　1/2 cup fresh lime juice

　　1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, optional

　　1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

　　

Step 1

Combine 2 tablespoons of the oil with the garlic in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the garlic browns, 5 to 10 minutes; season with a little salt and turn off the heat.

　　

Step 2

Meanwhile, put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. A minute later, add the fish and chiles and cook, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add all but a tablespoon or two of the lime juice, along with the tomatoes if you’re using them. Cook for another 2 minutes or so, until the fish is cooked through. (There is no need to turn the fish; if you are using shrimp instead of flatfish, stir occasionally.)

　　

Step 3

Transfer the fish to a platter. Stir the cilantro into the pan juices and pour the contents of the pan over the fish, along with the garlic and its oil and the remaining lime juice. Serve immediately.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.