Hola amigos! Summer is here, and these long, warm days inspired me to share a fresh, delicious and super easy recipe with you: Aguachiles (including a veggie option!)
Aguachiles is a dish originally from the state of Sonora, in the north of Mexico. Traditionally, we eat it with tostadas (toasted flat corn tortillas), but you can use totopos (tortilla chips) and you will have the same delicioso resultado!! To go with aguachiles, let´s prepare agua de jamaica (hibiscus water), and once everything is ready, just pick your favorite book, or movie, and enjoy the summer. Buen provecho!
Aguachiles
Ingredients
- 500 g uncooked fresh shrimp OR 1 can of palm hearts (veggie option)
- 2 regular sized cucumbers
- Chile serrano, as desired (This is a must! If you do not like a lot of heat only add ¼ of a small serrano)
- 1 cup of lime juice
- 1 small red onion
- 1 medium garlic clove
- 1 small bunch of cilantro
- Salt and pepper to taste
- To serve: tostadas and avocado
Preparation
First, let’s clean and disinfect all our vegetables (in Mexico we use Microdyn, easy to find at the vegetable section in supermarkets). Now, let’s clean the shrimp (remove head, legs and de-vein), open them butterfly style, add salt and pepper, mix, add the cup of lime juice and mix again. Make sure all shrimp are covered in lime juice. (I always use glass containers, better for keeping the flavor intact). Cover with plastic film and put in the refrigerator to cook (the acid of the lime will break down the protein of the shrimp and voilá, cooked shrimp without flames!)
While our shrimp are in the fridge, we´ll cut the red onion in thin julienne strips, the same with 1½ cucumbers (cut in half, lengthwise, and remove all seeds with a spoon), put the other half to one side.
After two hours, our shrimp will be fully cooked; remove the lime juice and store it. Now, let´s coarsely chop the ½ cucumber we kept, and blend it for one minute with the chile serrano, the small bunch of cilantro, garlic clove, ½ teaspoon of sea salt and ½ cup lime juice in which we cooked our shrimp. Once perfectly blended, add it to the shrimp and mix. Now add the sliced cucumber and purple onion. Check salt and pepper one last time, add if necessary and listo! Serve on top of tostadas with avocado slices … fresh, easy and delicious!!
Agua de Jamaica (Hibiscus water)
Ingredients
- 2 liters of water
- 1 cup of jamaica (dry hibiscus flowers, easy to find in any Mexican market or supermarket)
- Sugar to taste
- Ice
- 1 small cinnamon stick (optional)
Preparation
Rinse your hibiscus flowers just once and quickly. In a pot, add the two liters of water; bring it to the boil for 10 minutes, turn off the stove and let it rest until cool. You can add the cinnamon stick when boiling, to add a special touch! Once cool, strain into a pitcher, add ice, sugar to taste, mix well and listo! My secret? I add a touch of red wine in my glass…awesome!
I can´t wait until next month to share more Mexican dishes with you, as always with a vegetarian and vegan option! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Vlog, where we love to share more information, recipes, cooking secrets and Mexican culture … and remember: the secret ingredient in any recipe is a good amount of passion and love! So grab your favorite drink, play the music that inspires you and cook! Hasta pronto queridos amigos!
