Caldo de Camarón con Chepil

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting and roasting
• •Heavy 4-quart pot or Oaxacan clay cazuela
• •Blender
• •Deep clay bowls for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the shrimp broth

   Rinse the dried shrimp briefly under cold running water to remove excess salt and grit. Do not soak them. Soaking pulls out the flavor you want in the broth, not in the sink. Place the rinsed shrimp in a pot with 8 cups of cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. The water will turn a deep amber-orange and smell like the coast. That color is your broth. Leave the shrimp in the pot.

   Good dried shrimp should smell briny and slightly sweet, never of ammonia. Buy them whole with the heads on if you can find them. The heads dissolve into the broth and add depth that headless shrimp cannot match.
2. 2

   Toast the chile costeño

   While the shrimp simmers, heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the chile costeño for about 20 seconds per side. They are thin-skinned and burn faster than guajillo, so do not walk away. The moment they puff and the kitchen fills with a sharp, bright chile smell, pull them off. Place them in a small bowl and cover with hot water from the kettle. Let them soak for 10 minutes, no more.

   Chile costeño amarillo gives this caldo its characteristic golden-red color and a clean, direct heat. Chile costeño rojo is hotter and darker. Either works, but the amarillo is what the señoras in the Valles Centrales reach for.
3. 3

   Roast and blend the sauce

   On the same comal, roast the whole tomatoes, onion quarter, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Turn the tomatoes as their skins blister and char in spots, about 8 minutes total. The onion and garlic take less time, about 5 minutes. The skins should be blackened in patches but not burned through. Peel the garlic. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender with the drained soaked chiles and half a cup of the shrimp broth. Blend until smooth. Do not strain. The body from the chile skins and tomato pulp belongs in this caldo.

4. 4

   Fry the sauce in lard

   Heat the tablespoon of manteca in the bottom of a heavy pot or clay cazuela over medium heat. When the lard shimmers, pour in the blended sauce. It will sputter and pop, so stand back. Stir and cook for 5 minutes until the sauce darkens a shade and the fat begins to separate at the edges. This step changes the raw, sharp taste of the tomato and chile into something rounder and deeper. La manteca es el sabor. A tablespoon is all it takes.

5. 5

   Combine broth and sauce

   Pour the shrimp broth, shrimp and all, into the pot with the fried sauce. Stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Taste for salt now. Go carefully. Dried shrimp carries its own brine, and you may need very little salt or none at all. The broth should taste firmly of the sea with the chile warming the back of your throat.

6. 6

   Add masa for body

   In a small bowl, work the fresh masa smooth with a quarter cup of warm water, pressing it between your fingers until no lumps remain. If using masa harina, whisk it into the water. Pour the mixture into the simmering broth in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly so it does not clump. Cook for 5 minutes. The broth will thicken just enough to feel round on the tongue, enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon but still thin enough to drink from the bowl. If it feels too thick, add a splash of water. This caldo is a broth, not a porridge.

   Fresh masa from a tortillería will always give a cleaner corn flavor than masa harina. If you have access to one, buy a small ball. Masa harina is the compromise, not the ideal. Use it when you must.
7. 7

   Finish with chepil

   Add the chepil leaves to the pot. Stir once, gently, and cook for no more than 3 to 4 minutes. Chepil wilts quickly and overcooking turns it dark and dull, which kills its mineral brightness. The leaves should be vivid green and tender when you ladle the caldo into bowls. Make sure each serving gets shrimp, chepil, and a full bowl of broth. Set lime wedges on the table and a stack of warm corn tortillas. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Chepil is nearly impossible to find outside of southern Mexico. If you are in Oaxaca, buy it at any mercado from March through October. If you are outside Mexico, look for dried chepil from Oaxacan specialty vendors online. Dried chepil is a shadow of the fresh leaf, but it will give you the right direction. Do not substitute spinach or chard and call it the same dish. They are different plants with different flavors. If you cannot find chepil, make a different caldo.
• •Chile costeño amarillo is sold by Oaxacan chile vendors and increasingly through online Mexican ingredient shops. If you truly cannot source it, guajillo is the closest compromise: similar color, less heat, less brightness. You will miss the costeño's sharp, direct bite, but the caldo will still be worth eating. Know what you are trading away.
• •The dried shrimp should be whole, reddish-orange, and firm. Asian grocery stores often carry excellent dried shrimp at a fraction of the cost of Mexican-branded ones, and the quality is comparable. Avoid the powdered or pre-ground kind. You want the whole shrimp in the bowl.
• •This caldo is best eaten the day it is made. The chepil darkens overnight and the masa continues to thicken the broth in the refrigerator. If you must make it ahead, prepare everything through step 5 and add the masa and chepil only when you reheat.

Advance Preparation

• •The shrimp broth and fried chile-tomato sauce can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated separately. Combine and reheat before adding the masa and chepil at serving time.
• •Do not add the chepil until the moment you are ready to eat. It wilts in minutes and loses its color and mineral brightness if it sits in hot broth. The chepil is the finish, not the foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)