Camarones a la Diabla Nayaritas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer for shrimp stock
• •Wide heavy skillet or clay cazuela for finishing

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the shrimp

   Pat the shrimp dry. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lime juice. Let them sit while you build the sauce, no longer than 20 minutes. Shrimp cooks fast and tightens faster. Respect that.

2. 2

   Make shrimp stock

   Put the reserved shrimp shells in a small saucepan with 1 cup water and a pinch of salt. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then strain. You only need a little stock, but it gives the sauce the taste of Nayarit's coast instead of plain tap water.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo about 20 seconds per side, just until fragrant and flexible. Toast the chile de arbol for only a few seconds, moving constantly. They should darken slightly, not blacken. Burned chile de arbol turns bitter and angry in the wrong way.

   Open a window before toasting chile de arbol. The chile is small, sharp, and honest. It will tell the whole kitchen what you are doing.
4. 4

   Soften and roast

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and soak for 15 minutes. On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomatoes blister, the onion chars at the edges, and the garlic softens inside its skin. Peel the garlic. This roasting gives the sauce depth before it ever sees the pan.

5. 5

   Blend the sauce

   Drain the soaked chiles and put them in a blender with the roasted tomatoes, onion, peeled garlic, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, Mexican oregano, vinegar, 1/2 cup shrimp stock, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Blend until completely smooth. If the blender struggles, add another spoonful of stock. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon.

6. 6

   Fry the sauce

   Heat 1 tablespoon butter with the vegetable oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Pour in the blended sauce carefully. It will sputter. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the red deepens, the raw tomato smell disappears, and the fat begins to shine at the edges. This is where the sauce becomes a diabla sauce, not a blender salsa.

7. 7

   Sear the shrimp

   In a second wide skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp in one layer. Cook about 60 to 90 seconds per side, just until they turn pink and curl into a loose C. If they curl tight like a fist, you overcooked them. Work in batches if the pan is crowded.

8. 8

   Coat and serve

   Add the seared shrimp to the diabla sauce and toss for 1 minute, just long enough for the sauce to cling. Taste for salt. Serve immediately with white rice, warm corn tortillas, lime wedges, and a little cilantro if you use it. The rice is not decoration. It is there to catch the sauce.

Chef Tips

• •Buy shrimp shell-on when you can. Peeled shrimp is convenient, but the shells make the quick stock that gives the sauce its coastal backbone. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Chile de arbol is the heat here. Guajillo gives body and color. Chipotle gives smoke. Do not replace all three with bottled hot sauce and call it the same dish. It isn't.
• •Butter is common in coastal marisqueria shrimp dishes. This is not the place for heavy lard. La manteca es el sabor when the dish asks for it. Here, the shrimp wants mantequilla and a fast pan.
• •Serve with corn tortillas. Flour tortillas belong to the north. Nayarit's shrimp does not need a costume.

Advance Preparation

• •The diabla sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat it gently before adding freshly seared shrimp.
• •The shrimp can be peeled and deveined up to 1 day ahead. Keep it cold and save the shells separately for stock.
• •Do not cook the shrimp ahead. Reheated shrimp turns rubbery. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)