Chef Lupita
Almejas Tatemadas de Loreto
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Culinary Explorer
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Callo de Hacha al Mojo de Ajo
Created by
Sonora's pen shell scallops from the Gulf of California, seared hard in a hot pan and bathed in butter, garlic, and lime. The marisco that put the Noroeste on the map.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Special Occasion
Dinner Party
Date Night
20 min
Active Time
8 min cook•28 min total
Yield4 servings
This is from Sonora. Specifically from the coast around Bahia Kino and Guaymas, where the pangas come in at dawn with the callo de hacha pulled from the bed of the Gulf of California, what the Sonorenses call the Mar de Cortes. This is not the small bay scallop you find in a supermarket freezer. The callo de hacha is the white adductor muscle of the pen shell, a triangular bivalve that grows buried in the sand. The divers go down for them by hand. That is the dish before you have started cooking.
The Noroeste, Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, eats seafood differently than the south. There is no achiote, no banana leaf, no recado rojo. The cooking is direct: butter, garlic, lime, a hot pan. You are not building a sauce for hours. You are getting out of the way of an ingredient that came out of the sea this morning. If your callo is fresh and sweet, four ingredients is enough. If your callo is not fresh, no recipe can save it. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
The flour tortilla on the side is also Sonoran, not a substitution. The north eats wheat. The wheat came in with the Spanish missions and never left, and a Sonoran will hand you a flour tortilla with their callo de hacha and look at you funny if you ask for corn. Cada estado, su propia cocina. The mojo de ajo, butter melted slowly with garlic until it turns sweet, then poured hot over the seared scallop, is the technique that defines marisco cooking from Mazatlan up through Puerto Penasco. Get the garlic pale gold, never brown. Sear the callo hard and fast, never long. Eat it the moment it leaves the pan. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Callo de hacha refers to the adductor muscle of Atrina maura and related pen shell species native to the Gulf of California, which the Comcaac (Seri) and other indigenous coastal peoples of Sonora harvested by free-diving for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish. The species was so heavily fished through the 20th century that Mexican federal authorities imposed seasonal closures (vedas) and aquaculture programs in Bahia de Kino and Guaymas beginning in the 1990s to protect the wild populations. The mojo de ajo technique itself is Spanish-Mediterranean in origin, brought to the Noroeste through Sinaloan port cuisine, and its marriage with the native pen shell scallop is a 20th-century product of the marisquerias that defined the coastal dining culture from Mazatlan to Rocky Point.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh callo de hacha (pen shell scallops)
Quantity
1 pound
cleaned, side muscle removed
garlic cloves
Quantity
12
finely minced
unsalted butter
Quantity
6 tablespoons
olive oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fresh lime juice
Quantity
1/4 cup (about 4 Mexican limes)
dry white wine (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
fresh chile serrano (optional)
Quantity
1
finely minced
fresh flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
hand-pressed flour tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
salsa de chile de molcajete (optional)
Quantity
for serving
sliced avocado (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh callo de hacha (pen shell scallops)cleaned, side muscle removed | 1 pound |
| garlic clovesfinely minced | 12 |
| unsalted butter | 6 tablespoons |
| olive oil | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh lime juice | 1/4 cup (about 4 Mexican limes) |
| dry white wine (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh chile serrano (optional)finely minced | 1 |
| fresh flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| hand-pressed flour tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
| salsa de chile de molcajete (optional) | for serving |
| sliced avocado (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy cast iron skillet or carbon steel pan that can take very high heat
- •Small saucepan or skillet for the mojo de ajo
- •Sharp paring knife for cleaning the callos
- •Fish spatula for flipping without tearing the crust
Instructions
- 1
Inspect and dry the callo
Lay each callo de hacha on a clean cutting board. Look for the small tough side muscle and pull it off with your fingers. It comes away easily. Pat each piece very dry with paper towels. Wet scallops will not sear, they will steam, and steamed callo is a waste of what came out of the Gulf of California this morning. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
If your callos are large, more than an inch and a half thick, slice them in half horizontally into two discs. They cook in seconds and you want surface area, not a thick block that browns outside and stays cold inside. - 2
Build the mojo de ajo
In a small skillet over low heat, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil. The oil keeps the butter from burning. When the butter has melted, add the minced garlic and the serrano if using. Cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often. The garlic should turn pale gold and smell sweet, never brown. Brown garlic is bitter garlic and there is no fixing it later. Pull the pan off the heat. This is your mojo.
- 3
Sear the callo hard and fast
Heat a heavy skillet or comal over high heat until it is very hot. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. The moment it foams, lay the callos in the pan in a single layer. Do not crowd. Work in two batches if you must. Season with salt and pepper. Sear for 60 to 90 seconds on the first side without moving them. You want a deep golden crust. Flip each one and sear for another 30 to 45 seconds. The center should still be barely translucent. This is callo, not rubber.
- 4
Bathe in the mojo
Pour the warm mojo de ajo over the seared callos right in the hot pan. Add the white wine if using and the lime juice. The pan will hiss. Tilt the pan and spoon the garlicky butter over each piece for about 30 seconds. The garlic will toast slightly in the residual heat and the lime will cut through the fat. Pull the pan off the heat the moment everything is glossy and combined. Asi se hace y punto.
- 5
Serve immediately
Slide the callos and all the mojo onto a warm platter. Scatter the parsley over the top. Serve at once with warm flour tortillas, lime halves, sliced avocado, and a salsa de molcajete on the side. Callo de hacha is eaten the minute it leaves the pan. It does not wait. It does not reheat. The diner builds small tacos with the tortilla, one or two callos, a squeeze of lime, and a spoonful of the garlic butter from the bottom of the platter.
Chef Tips
- •Buy callo de hacha from a fishmonger you trust, ideally one who can tell you when the boat came in. Fresh callo smells like clean ocean and nothing else. If it smells fishy, walk away. A frozen Mexican callo from a reputable importer is a compromise, but a better compromise than questionable fresh.
- •Mexican lime is the right lime here. The small green ones with thin skin and bracing acid. Persian lime will work but the flavor is rounder and less pointed. The Sonoran cooks I learned this from used limon mexicano without exception.
- •Do not skip patting the callos dry. Wet scallops will not sear. They release water into the pan, the temperature drops, and you end up with pale, rubbery callo swimming in liquid. The crust is half the dish.
- •If you cannot find callo de hacha, the closest substitute is a large fresh diver scallop (callo de almeja). It is not the same. The pen shell has a sweeter, slightly chewier bite that nothing else replicates. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
Advance Preparation
- •The mojo de ajo can be made up to two hours ahead and held off the heat. Warm it gently before pouring over the callos.
- •The callos themselves cannot be made ahead. From pan to plate is the entire window. Do not even think about reheating leftover callo de hacha. There will not be leftovers if you serve it right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 175g)
Calories
335 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
20 g
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