Mediterranean magic

The newly opened Migas Mercado's head chef Miguel Casal Zapata focuses on authentic Spanish cuisine but innovates with a fusion of Chinese spices and ingredients. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Migas Classic Gran Reserva sangria is a mild option. It's made by steeping fruit in red wine for 21 days and then adding a squirt of Sprite.

Miguel maintains original flavors by employing fast cooking methods.

Seafood comes in paella, charcoal-grilled in a Josper oven or as tartare.

Migas Special Seafood Paella is a signature dish. The rice is cooked with seafood soup and red marc (a spicy sauce). The soup takes six hours to make, and the sauce requires four.

The broth contains roasted prawn shells, redfish, vegetables and white wine. All the flavors are infused into the Valencian bomba rice, which isn't sticky and can absorb two to three times its volume in water. Garlic and parsley temper the rich seafood sensation.

The dish is served in a large, shallow pot with bomba rice at the bottom and cooked shrimp and seabass on top.

Miguel focuses on authentic Spanish cuisine but innovates with a fusion of Chinese spices and ingredients.

Tuna tartare with ajoblanco (chilled almond soup) is a subtle combination. The tuna is preserved with soy sauce, ginger and other condiments, and Chinese spicy oil is splashed into broth. It's a beautiful blend of flavorful tuna, fresh green apple and crispy quinoa.

Miguel also recommends Presa Iberica－roast Iberian pork with hummus, bread crumbs and red fruit sauce. The meat cuts imported from Spain are grilled medium-rare with pork sauce.

It tastes so much like a tender steak that many people wouldn't know it wasn't.

The hummus is drizzled with lemon and sprinkled with salt, and the red-fruit sauce that's sweat and sour, with a touch of spiciness that hails from Chinese Laoganma sauce.

Indeed, Migas serves hearty helpings of Spanish flavors, sometimes with a distinctly Chinese aftertaste that crosses continents, cultures and cuisines.

Contact the writer at liyingxue@chinadaily.com.cn