Here in Texas we are big into Mexican food but frankly, much of it is what should properly called Tex-Mex and wouldn’t be recognized as Mexican food in its supposed country of origin. That’s why I was delighted when this month’s Fish Friday Foodies theme of Mexican seafood dishes was chosen. It’s always fun to explore new recipes and I rightly guessed that many I’d find on the internet were completely unfamiliar.
As with many regional dishes - this favorite is from the state of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico coast - there seem to be as many camarones a la diabla recipes as there are Mexican mamás. Most use dried chili peppers and fresh tomatoes but sometimes chipotle peppers in adobo and roasted tomatoes are added and/or substituted.
I found them served with white rice, saffron rice, corn tortillas, avocados, limes and even fried platano, those lovely big bananas that turn super sweet when their skin is black and are wonderful for breakfast fried with butter.
I cooked fresh corn tortillas and served them with guacamole. Probably not traditional but they were delicious.
Camarones a la Diabla - Deviled Shrimp
I thought my Roma tomatoes, while quite lovely and ripe, were smaller than the ones I’m used to buying so I used four for this recipe. Come to find out, mine (at around 3 oz or 85g each) were in the medium range since Romas range in weight from 2-5 oz and 57-142g. Who knew? I give the exact weight I used below but know that a little more or less will still be delicious. My recipe is adapted from one on Isabel Eats.Ingredients
8 dried guajillo chiles
3 dried chile de arbol chiles
4 Roma tomatoes (about 11 1/2 oz or 325g before coring)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion
1 teaspoon fine sea salt plus more as needed
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs or 680g frozen headless shrimp, peel on (about 20 large shrimp)
salt and pepper, to taste
To garnish: fresh cilantro
To serve: corn tortillas, limes and (not pictured) guacamole or see suggestions above.
Method
Set the shrimp in a colander in the sink or over a bowl to thaw and drain, preferably overnight in the refrigerator. If you don’t have time for this, run a little tap water over the shrimp to thaw them drain in the refrigerator while you make the sauce.
Once thawed and drained, peel and clean the shrimp but leave the tails on. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and refrigerate again until needed.
Meanwhile, remove the stems from your arbol chiles (the little ones) and remove the stems and seeds from the dried guajillos (the large ones.) I find the easiest way to deseed guajillos is to run a pair of scissors or a sharp knife up one side to open the pepper. The seeds fall out with hardly any effort.
Put the dried peppers in a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Set a plate on top to hold the heat in. Set aside for 15 minutes or until the chiles have softened.
Remove the hard cores and chop your Roma tomatoes into large dice. Leave the seeds in; they add flavor.
Dice the onion and roughly chop the garlic.
Transfer the softened chiles with a pair of tongs to a large blender or a deep vessel suitable for a hand blender. Add the tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt and sugar along with 1/4 cup or 60ml of the soaking water. Puree until completely smooth.
Heat a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and shrimp. Cook shrimp for a minute or two per side, or until shrimp is lightly browned but not cooked through. You may have to do this in two batches as I did, to make sure you don’t crowd the pan. Remove the shrimp to a plate.
Add the red sauce to the pan. Cook for about 10-12 minutes over a medium low heat or until the mixture is thick and doesn’t taste as sharply of raw onion and garlic.
Add in the shrimp back to the pan and stir to coat the shrimp with the sauce.
Remove the pan from the heat, garnish with cilantro if using and serve right away. The camarones a la diabla can also be refrigerated for a day and gently reheated in a pan in over a medium fire before serving.
This month my Fish Friday Foodies friends are cooking Mexican seafood dishes at the instigation of our host Rebekah of Making Miracles. Check out all the great recipes below:
- Camarones a la Diabla - Mexican Deviled Shrimp by Food Lust People Love
- Ceviche Naranja by Palatable Pastime
- Crab Cakes with Jalapeño Aioli by Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Mexican Shrimp Casserole by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Mexican Style Shrimp by Sneha's Recipe
- Prawn Ceviche with Avocados by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Salmon Tacos with Avocado Salsa by Making Miracles
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