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Nayarit's palapa-style seafood alambres thread shrimp, octopus, firm fish, pineapple, onion, and peppers through a guajillo and chile de arbol adobo, then grill them over wood charcoal for a botana built to share.
Nayarit, from San Blas down toward Bahia de Banderas, knows what to do with seafood before the tourist menus get involved. These alambres de mariscos belong to the Pacific coast of Occidente: shrimp, octopus, firm white fish, pineapple, onion, and peppers cooked over wood charcoal under a palapa, passed around with tortillas, lime, and salsa. This is not food from one generic Mexico. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The adobo is what makes the skewer nayarita: chile guajillo for color, chile de arbol for bite, garlic, lime, tamarind, a little soy sauce, and Mexican oregano. That soy is not a mistake. The Pacific coast remembers trade. The Manila Galleon left ingredients and habits that still show up in Nayarit, Colima, and Guerrero, especially with seafood. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado and they will tell you: the coast cooks with what the coast has carried.
The octopus must be cooked before it touches the skewer. Raw octopus on the grill turns tough while the shrimp overcook and the fish falls apart. No me vengas con atajos. Cook the octopus first, marinate everything briefly, and grill hot so the edges char before the seafood dries. The pineapple belongs there because it cuts the chile and salt with juice. The table needs clay plates, warm corn tortillas, lime halves, and a molcajete of salsa. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo.
Alambres in Mexico take their name from the wire or metal skewers used to grill meat and vegetables, a technique that became common in urban cantinas and roadside grills during the 20th century. Along Nayarit's Pacific coast, cooks adapted the format to local seafood, especially shrimp, octopus, and firm white fish, using chile adobos related to pescado zarandeado from the same region. Soy sauce, tamarind, coconut, and other Pacific ingredients entered western Mexican coastal cooking through the Manila Galleon trade between Acapulco and Asia from 1565 to 1815, leaving a practical mark on marinades for fish and shellfish.
Quantity
1 pound
peeled and deveined, tails left on
Quantity
1 pound
cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Quantity
1 pound
cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Quantity
1
peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
Quantity
1 large
cut into 1-inch squares
Quantity
1
cut into 1-inch squares
Quantity
1
cut into 1-inch squares
Quantity
6
stemmed and seeded
Quantity
3
stemmed
Quantity
3
unpeeled
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1 tablespoon
grated
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons, plus more to taste
Quantity
3 tablespoons, plus more for the grill grate
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large shrimppeeled and deveined, tails left on | 1 pound |
| cooked octopuscut into 1 1/2-inch pieces | 1 pound |
| firm white fish such as dorado, huachinango, or robalocut into 1 1/2-inch cubes | 1 pound |
| small pineapplepeeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks | 1 |
| white onioncut into 1-inch squares | 1 large |
| red bell peppercut into 1-inch squares | 1 |
| green bell peppercut into 1-inch squares | 1 |
| dried chile guajillostemmed and seeded | 6 |
| dried chile de arbolstemmed | 3 |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 3 |
| fresh lime juice | 1/4 cup |
| tamarind concentrate | 2 tablespoons |
| Mexican soy sauce or regular soy sauce | 2 tablespoons |
| apple cider vinegar | 1 tablespoon |
| piloncillograted | 1 tablespoon |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | 1/2 teaspoon |
| kosher salt | 1 1/2 teaspoons, plus more to taste |
| neutral oil | 3 tablespoons, plus more for the grill grate |
| warm corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
| salsa de chile de arbol (optional) | for serving |
If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Metal skewers are better and more honest to the name alambre. The seafood cooks quickly, so have the skewers ready before you start the adobo.
Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo for 20 to 30 seconds per side until the skin darkens slightly and smells sweet, like raisins and warm dust from a chile stall. Toast the chile de arbol for only a few seconds. It burns fast. Burned chile turns bitter and then the whole adobo tastes punished.
Place the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let them soften for 15 minutes. While they soak, roast the unpeeled garlic cloves on the comal until the skins blacken in spots and the cloves soften, about 8 minutes. Peel the garlic. Hot water softens the chile flesh without cooking the skin into bitterness. Así se hace y punto.
Drain the chiles and put them in a blender with the roasted garlic, lime juice, tamarind concentrate, soy sauce, vinegar, piloncillo, Mexican oregano, cumin, salt, and neutral oil. Blend until completely smooth. The adobo should be red, glossy, salty, sour, and just sweet enough to make the pineapple make sense. If the blender struggles, add one tablespoon of water, not more.
Pat the shrimp, cooked octopus, and fish very dry. Put them in a wide bowl with the pineapple, onion, and peppers. Pour over the adobo and turn everything gently with your hands. Marinate 20 minutes, no longer than 30. Lime and salt tighten seafood if you leave it sitting too long. This is a botana, not a punishment.
Thread the skewers by alternating shrimp, octopus, fish, pineapple, onion, and pepper. Do not pack them tightly. Leave a little space so the charcoal can reach the edges. Keep the fish pieces between sturdier pieces of onion or pepper so they do not tear when you turn the skewer.
Prepare a medium-hot wood charcoal fire and oil the grate. Grill the alambres for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning carefully, until the shrimp turn pink, the fish flakes at the edge, and the pineapple shows dark grill marks. Brush once with leftover adobo during the first turn only. After that, leave them alone so the surface can char instead of steaming in sauce.
Slide the alambres onto a warm clay platter or serve them still on the skewers, cantina-style. Set out warm corn tortillas, lime halves, and salsa de chile de arbol in a molcajete. Eat while the edges are still glossy from the grill and the seafood is tender. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
1 serving (about 440g)
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