Chef Lupita
Camarones a la Diabla Nayaritas
Nayarit's Pacific shrimp, seared quickly and coated in a red sauce of chile de arbol, chipotle, tomato, and garlic, the kind of heat that belongs beside white rice and warm corn tortillas.
Culinary Explorer
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Cuyutlan Fire-Roasted Fish (Pescado en Vara)
Created by
Colima's coastal pescado en vara, small whole fish skewered upright beside a wood fire, brushed with chile guajillo, chile de arbol, garlic, lime, and eaten on the sand.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Outdoor Dining
BBQ
35 min
Active Time
25 min cook•1 hr total
Yield6 servings
Colima, on the coast at Cuyutlan, is where this fish belongs. Not in a restaurant with white plates. On the beach, near the lagoon and the salt flats, where the fish is small, fresh, and cooked standing beside the fire on a stick.
The technique is the identity. The women in the ramadas along Cuyutlan learned to roast fish upright, close enough to the wood fire for the skin to blister and far enough away that the flesh stays moist. You don't throw this on a grill grate and call it the same dish. The vara matters. The angle matters. The patience matters.
The chile here is not trying to punish anybody. Guajillo gives color and fruit, chile de arbol gives a clean bite, garlic and lime wake the fish up, and Cuyutlan sea salt does what salt from that coast has done for generations. If you cannot get fresh lisa, use small pargo, mojarra, or sierra. But buy fish that smells like the tide, not like a refrigerator. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
My mother didn't cook this in Colonia Roma. I learned it from a woman in Cuyutlan who kept turning the sticks with one hand while pressing tortillas with the other. She didn't measure the salt. She looked at the fish and knew. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Cuyutlan, in the municipality of Armeria, has been tied to salt production and lagoon fishing for centuries, and its coastal cooking reflects that practical economy: fresh fish, local salt, fire, and very little ceremony. The use of upright sticks beside a wood fire belongs to Pacific coastal cookery, where cooks could roast multiple small fish without needing metal grates or enclosed ovens. Modern mangroves in Mexico are protected ecosystems, so the old mangle vara should be understood as regional history, not permission to cut living mangrove today.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small whole fish such as lisa, pargo chico, mojarra, or sierra
Quantity
6 fish, 10 to 12 ounces each
scaled, gutted, rinsed, and patted dry
coarse sea salt, preferably sal de Cuyutlan
Quantity
2 teaspoons
fresh lime juice
Quantity
3 tablespoons
dried chile guajillo
Quantity
6
stemmed and seeded
dried chile de arbol
Quantity
3
stemmed
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
unpeeled
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
ground cumin
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
fresh orange juice
Quantity
1/3 cup
fresh lime juice for the adobo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
neutral oil or rendered pork lard
Quantity
3 tablespoons
melted
coarse sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
warm corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
12
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
6
salsa de molcajete with roasted tomato and chile de arbol (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small whole fish such as lisa, pargo chico, mojarra, or sierrascaled, gutted, rinsed, and patted dry | 6 fish, 10 to 12 ounces each |
| coarse sea salt, preferably sal de Cuyutlan | 2 teaspoons |
| fresh lime juice | 3 tablespoons |
| dried chile guajillostemmed and seeded | 6 |
| dried chile de arbolstemmed | 3 |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 4 |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1/2 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | 1/4 teaspoon |
| fresh orange juice | 1/3 cup |
| fresh lime juice for the adobo | 2 tablespoons |
| neutral oil or rendered pork lardmelted | 3 tablespoons |
| coarse sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| warm corn tortillas (optional) | 12 |
| lime halves (optional) | 6 |
| salsa de molcajete with roasted tomato and chile de arbol (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Dry cast iron comal for toasting chiles
- •High-powered blender or volcanic stone molcajete
- •6 clean soaked hardwood stakes or thick bamboo skewers, 18 to 24 inches long
- •Wood fire setup with firm sand or a fire-safe container filled with sand
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the fish
Pat the fish completely dry. Make three diagonal cuts on each side, down to the bone but not through it. Rub the fish inside and out with the 2 teaspoons sea salt and 3 tablespoons lime juice. Let them sit 20 minutes while you build the adobo. The cuts let the salt and chile reach the flesh, not just decorate the skin.
- 2
Toast the chiles
Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillo chiles about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until they darken slightly and smell fruity. Toast the chile de arbol for only a few seconds. It is thin and burns fast. Burned chile makes bitter fish, and there is no fixing that later.
Use guajillo for color and body. The chile de arbol is there for a clean edge, not to turn the fish into a dare. - 3
Soften and roast
Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. On the same comal, roast the unpeeled garlic until the skins blacken in spots and the cloves soften, about 8 minutes. Peel the garlic. Drain the chiles. Hot water softens the chile flesh without cooking the skins hard. Boiling water is too rough.
- 4
Blend the adobo
Blend the softened guajillo, chile de arbol, roasted garlic, Mexican oregano, cumin, orange juice, 2 tablespoons lime juice, melted lard or oil, and 1 teaspoon sea salt until smooth. The paste should be loose enough to brush, but not watery. Taste it. It should be salty and bright because the fish will soften the seasoning as it roasts.
- 5
Skewer the fish
Thread each fish lengthwise onto a clean soaked hardwood stake or thick bamboo skewer, entering near the mouth and running along the backbone so the fish stands firm. Brush the adobo into the cuts, inside the belly, and across the skin. Do not drown the fish. You want a chile coating that clings, not a sauce that drips into the fire.
In Cuyutlan the old varas were associated with the lagoon and mangrove country. Today, do not cut mangrove. Use clean untreated hardwood or thick bamboo. Respecting the place includes protecting it. - 6
Build the fire
Prepare a wood fire and let it burn down until you have steady flames on one side and a bed of hot coals on the other. Push the fish stakes into firm sand, a fire-safe planter filled with sand, or a grill basket set upright, leaning the fish toward the heat but not directly over it. The fish should roast beside the fire, not lie on top of it.
- 7
Roast and turn
Roast the fish 18 to 25 minutes, turning the stakes every few minutes and brushing lightly with more adobo during the first half of cooking. The skin should char in patches, the chile paste should darken to brick red, and the flesh near the backbone should turn opaque and pull away cleanly. If the skin blackens before the inside cooks, move the fish farther from the fire. Fire has to be managed. No me vengas con atajos.
- 8
Serve by hand
Slide the fish from the stakes onto a large barro plate or serve them still on the vara if your table allows it. Put warm corn tortillas, lime halves, and salsa de molcajete beside the fish. Each person pulls meat from the bone and makes tacos at the table. This is beach food, but it is not careless food. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chef Tips
- •Use small whole fish. A large fillet on a grill is not pescado en vara. Lisa is very good for this because the flesh is firm and coastal cooks know it well. Pargo chico, mojarra, or sierra also work.
- •Ask for fish with clear eyes, bright gills, and clean sea smell. If the fish smells sour or strong, leave it at the market. No chile paste can repair old fish.
- •Sal de Cuyutlan is not decoration. Colima's coast has a serious salt tradition, and that coarse sea salt gives the fish a clean mineral bite. If you cannot find it, use another coarse Mexican sea salt and know what you are missing.
- •If you cook indoors, use the broiler and a rack set over a sheet pan, turning often. It will feed you, but it will not taste like fish roasted beside wood fire on the beach. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
Advance Preparation
- •The adobo can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it back to room temperature before brushing it on the fish.
- •The fish can be cleaned and salted up to 2 hours ahead, kept cold, then brushed with adobo just before roasting.
- •Do not roast the fish ahead. Pescado en vara is eaten when the skin is charred and the flesh is still juicy. Reheated fish tastes like neglect.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
1250 mg
Total Carbohydrates
35 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
37 g
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