After wine, seafood is perhaps Chile’s most famous export. In the U.S., you can go into a restaurant and order “Chilean Sea Bass,” but when you get to Chile and you want the same thing, what should you ask for? And what are all of those other kinds of fish on the menu? Here’s a quick guide to Chilean seafood.
| Spanish | English | Observations |
| almeja | clam | |
| atún | tuna | Careful with this one; tuna in Chile is the name for the prickly pear fruit. |
| bacalao | cod | |
| bacalao de profundidad | Chilean Sea Bass | Patagonian toothfish is the “official” English name for the delicacy that fish importer and marketing genius Lee Lantz rebaptized as Chilean Sea Bass in the early 1970’s. Dissostichus eleginoides has garnered fame among restaurantgoers and travelers not only for its mild-flavored, fatty flesh, but for its difficulty to properly identify in Spanish. Two of its common names, merluza negra and mero del pacífico are deemed erroneous by some. If you go to the mercado central to score some, ask for bacalao de profundidad. |
| calamar | squid | |
| camarón | shrimp | Chilean shrimp are generally small. “Jumbo” shrimp are imported from Ecuador. |
| centolla | king crab | |
| cholga | ribbed mussel | |
| chorito | blue mussel | |
| cojinova | choicy ruff | Best English name for a fish ever? |
| congrio | conger eel | The subject of a famous ode by Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda. |
| corvina | corvina | Perhaps due to the unappetizing names croaker and meagre, this mainstay of the Chilean seafood restaurant menu is often, if not usually, referred to by its Spanish name. Sometimes confused with its relative, the White Sea Bass. |
| erizo | urchin | |
| gamba | prawn | Or a big shrimp. |
| jaiba | Chilean stone crab | The main difference between this and the cangrejo whose name you learned in your high school Spanish class are the two specially-shaped claws it has to help it swim. |
| jibia | cuttlefish | |
| jurel | mackerel | Often (and unfortunately) forgotton or dismissed, due to its affordability and high visibility in the canned food aisle of the supermarket. |
| langosta | lobster | Missing the oversized claws of its North American counterpart. |
| langostino | king prawn | |
| lenguado | sole | |
| lisa | flathead mullet | |
| loco | abalone | Highly prized and correspondingly expensive. |
| macha | razor clam | Sprinkle with parmesan and broil, and you have one of the most beloved Chilean appetizers (machas a la parmesana). Shellfish for people who don’t like shellfish. |
| merluza | hake | Known colloquially as pescada, this is one of the most-consumed fish in Chile |
| ostión | scallop | |
| ostra | oyster | |
| pejerrey | kingfish | |
| pulpo | octopus | |
| reineta | Southern rays bream | Another favorite in Chilean restaurants. |
| robalo | rock cod | |
| salmón | salmon | Along with corvina, merluza and reineta, one of the most common fish offered in Chilean restaurants. |
| tilapia | tilapia | |
| trucha | trout |
So now you know what animal to order. Now on to how you would like it prepared:
Common preparations for seafood in Chile
In a bowl…
- caldillo (e.g. de congrio) stew or chowder, may be water- or cream-based
- chupe (e.g. de camarón) milk and bread (marraqueta) are often mixed into the broth of this seafood chowder
- paila (e.g. marina) seafood stew served named for the traditional clay bowl it’s served in
- pastel (e.g. de jaiba) chunks of meat in a cream sauce topped with cheese and baked
On a plate…
- a la plancha grilled
- al horno baked
- frito fried
Special sauces…
- a la mantequilla negra in a butter- and vinegar-based sauce prepared with ground pepper or peppercorns, which may or may not be darker in color than plain butter
- a la parmesana covered with parmesan cheese and broiled
- al pil-pil sautéed in butter, garlic and hot pepper
- en escabeche/escabechado marinated and baked in an acidic marinade with onions and herbs
- en salsa margarita in a white sauce with shellfish
Famous dishes…
- ceviche/cebiche raw fish “cooked” in lemon juice and mixed with onions, cilantro, red pepper (sweet pepper, similar only in appearance to the fiery rocoto used in Peruvian cebiche), and served with corn and boiled sweet potato
- curanto just about every variety of animal protein– including fish and shellfish– is placed with potatoes, cabbage and white wine in a large pot or a hole in the ground and cooked for several hours
September 4th, 2009 | 
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Seafood
Great resource-I think I’m going to have to print this one out. Thanks!
Thanks expat.cl! Been looking for these explanations for a long time. Appreciate the zany contextualizing too!
Oh no! You are definitely missing two of the most chilean contributions to the seafood world!! Picorocos (barnacles) are usually served inside their gargantuan rocks, either steamed in white wine or as PONCHE (don’t ask, just click).
And finally, you can’t avoid piures. These tiny red iodine bombs are a connoisseur’s gem, you can usually find them cleaned or if you really want to impress any seafood gourmet, the stalls at Mercado Central will sell you the full piure inside their soft shell/rock and you can GRILL the creatures, then slice them open and enjoy.
One last omission, which can even be found in good ferias: albacora (or albacorilla) is a local cousin of the swordfish!
any idea where I can eat Locos now mid January in Santiago around El Bosque or Providencia…..
Hi Claire!
You can eat Locos at Café Torres (Isidora Goyenechea 2962, phone 3332639).
Enjoy them!