A la plancha
Cooked on a flat-top metal griddle. Fast, hot, no oil pooling. Standard for prawns, fish fillets and squid.
A la plancha means cooking on a plancha, a flat heavy metal griddle heated until it's smoking. The food goes straight onto the metal, often with nothing but a brush of oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. The high contact heat sears the surface in seconds, locks in moisture, and leaves no time for the fat to render down. Prawns, fish fillets, baby squid, octopus tentacles, sweetbreads, vegetables: anything that wants a fast hot sear ends up here. The texture is crisp outside, soft inside, with no smoke flavour, the opposite of a la brasa.
How it's served
Usually plated simply: the protein on the plate, a wedge of lemon, a flake of sea salt, sometimes a green sauce on the side. The plancha sears so cleanly that nothing else is needed.
Regional variation
Galician kitchens use the plancha hard for octopus and razor clams. Catalan and Valencian seafood restaurants put almost every prawn variant through it. The technique is universal across Spain; only the toppings differ.
- Origin
- Spain
- Etymology
- From the Spanish plancha ('iron' or 'sheet metal').
Frequently asked
What does 'a la plancha' mean?
Cooked on a flat metal griddle heated to very high heat. The food sears directly on the metal with little to no oil. Standard for prawns, baby squid, fish fillets and vegetables. The texture is crisp outside, soft inside, no smoke flavour.
Is 'a la plancha' the same as grilling?
Close but not the same. Grilling usually means over a flame or embers with grate marks; plancha is on a solid flat surface with no flame contact. Plancha sears faster, doesn't add smoke, and gives a fully browned crust instead of charred stripes.
What dishes are typically 'a la plancha'?
Gambas a la plancha (prawns), pulpo a la plancha (octopus), chipirones a la plancha (baby squid), bacalao a la plancha (cod fillet), verduras a la plancha (mixed vegetables). The technique fits anything that benefits from a fast hot sear.
Related terms
- A la brasaCooked directly over wood embers or charcoal. The default high-end grill method in Catalonia and the Basque Country.
- Gamba rojaThe deep-red Mediterranean prawn from the Catalan and Valencian coast. One of the most prized seafood ingredients in Spain, eaten grilled or raw.
- Al ajilloCooked fast in olive oil with sliced garlic and dried chilli. The default treatment for prawns, mushrooms and clams in a Spanish kitchen.
- BogavanteEuropean lobster. Larger and sweeter than langosta (spiny lobster), used in Spanish rice dishes, paellas and grilled at high-end seafood restaurants.
- EspardenyesSea cucumbers, one of the most prized seafood delicacies on the Catalan coast. Sliced thin and seared briefly with garlic or in a pilota broth.
- PulpoOctopus. Boiled tender and dressed with paprika and olive oil in the Galician tradition (pulpo a feira), or grilled on a hot plancha in the Catalan and Andalusian style.
- RapeMonkfish. Firm-textured white fish with no small bones and a single central cartilage, used in Spanish suquet, paella, and grilled on the plancha.
- VentrescaTuna belly: the fattiest, most marbled cut. Sold canned in olive oil (ventresca de bonito) or served fresh as sashimi, tartare or quickly seared.