Aguachile
Photo: Daisygarcia28 · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Aguachile comes from the west coast of Mexico, mainly Sinaloa, Nayarit, Sonora, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán and the Baja peninsula. Its core is shrimp with fresh or dried chiles, lime, onion and cucumber; the classic Sinaloa version lays butterflied shrimp in a bed, salts them, and covers them with lime and chile blended in a molcajete. It has travelled to the Caribbean coast: in Cancún, Mero 18 lists a shrimp aguachile at MXN 200, Fred's a green shrimp aguachile and Navíos a black one.

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Common allergens: Shellfish

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 500 g very fresh raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 200 ml fresh lime juice
  • 3 serrano chiles
  • A handful of coriander
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into half moons
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Tostadas to serve

Method

  1. Butterfly each shrimp by cutting along the back almost through, and open it flat.
  2. Lay the shrimp in one layer on a cold plate and season with half the salt.
  3. Blend the lime juice, serranos, coriander, garlic and the rest of the salt until smooth.
  4. Pour the green sauce over the shrimp and leave for 5 to 10 minutes, until the shrimp just turn pink at the edges.
  5. Scatter over the cucumber and red onion and serve straight away with tostadas.

Tip from the editors. For a black aguachile, blend in charred dried chile and a spoonful of soy or Worcestershire sauce in place of the coriander.

Where to eat aguachile

Aguachile in Cancún

Mero 18 ★ 3.9

$$ SeafoodCentro

Mero 18 is a seafood and sushi room on Calle Mero by Avenida Nader in downtown Cancún, serving oysters by the piece, aguachiles, ceviches and sushi rolls.

OrderShrimp aguachile (MXN 200), cold oysters at MXN 50 each and the two tunas roll, the menu's house favourite.

TipIt sits inside Mezcal Boutique Hotel but is open to everyone from 07:00 to 23:00; breakfast runs until 12:30 and the booking form opens WhatsApp.

Directions

Fred's ★ 4.2

$$$ SeafoodZona Hotelera

Fred's Seafood & Raw Bar on Boulevard Kukulcán km 14.5 in Cancún serves lobster, ceviches and oysters from a terrace above Nichupté Lagoon until midnight.

OrderLobster, either the Drunk Lobster in white wine and light beer or the Rosarito with flour tortillas.

TipStart at the raw bar with green shrimp aguachile or Rockefeller oysters; the kitchen runs until midnight daily.

Directions

Porfirio's ★ 4.2

$$$ Mexican modernZona Hotelera

Porfirio's at Boulevard Kukulcán km 14.2 in Cancún reworks Mexican street food, from esquites to aguachile, on a terrace facing Nichupté Lagoon.

OrderAguachile de New York flamed with mezcal, then blue-corn gorditas with crisp pork belly.

TipMariachis play live at dinner; book ahead for weekends, when the terrace over the lagoon fills first.

Directions

El Fish Fritanga ★ 3.8

$$ SeafoodZona Hotelera

El Fish Fritanga, on the Nichupté lagoon by La Isla in Cancún's Hotel Zone, is known for fried fish, aguachiles and a Louisiana-style seafood bag.

OrderPescado frito or fish tacos, an aguachile, and the Louisiana-style seafood bag if you are sharing.

TipTwo fish tacos cost about 180 pesos and a meal runs 300 to 500 pesos a head; the lagoon-facing terrace is the draw at sunset.

Directions

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