Aguachile Verde with Shrimp Recipe
Aguachile verde is a very spicy, ultra-fresh dish of shrimp in a green, lime-and-herb sauce. In Mexico it’s treated like a “cold soup” for hot days or a beach snack, often served with tortilla chips. The flavor is intensely citrusy, herbal and spicy, a bit like ceviche but with a bigger chili kick.
Aguachile verde is the wilder, hotter cousin of ceviche – the sauce is not just a marinade but a full-fledged green “broth” of chili, coriander and lime in which the shrimp swim. The dish has a bold citrusy-herbal flavor with a strong hit of heat that literally wakes you up from a hot-day stupor. In Mexican seaside joints it’s treated like a cool, spicy soup to crunch on with tortilla chips.
Chef's tips
Slice the shrimp really thin – the thinner the “butterflies”, the faster and more evenly the lime juice will set them. Before you add all the jalapeño sauce, taste it with a spoon and, if needed, remove the seeds from some of the peppers if you don’t like extreme heat. Don’t leave the shrimp in lime juice for hours, or they’ll turn tough; stick to the given time and watch the color of the meat.
How to serve
Serve in a wide bowl with plenty of tortilla chips, which act like edible spoons – perfect for an evening of Mexican snacks and a TV series. Chilled margarita, beer with lime or homemade lemonade all pair beautifully and help tame the chili heat a bit. This dish is especially good for summer house parties when you want to serve something impressive without turning on the oven.
Ingredients
- shrimp raw, peeled, tail-off - 400 g
- lime juice, about 200 ml - 6 piece
- cucumber peeled, sliced into thin half-moons - 1 piece
- red onion very thinly sliced into feathers - 0.5 piece
- jalapeño chili pepper seeded, cut into pieces - 2 piece
- fresh coriander chopped, including tender stems - 4 tablespoons
- water to thin the sauce - 50 ml
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
- tortilla chips for serving - 80 g
Preparation
- Butterfly the shrimp by slicing them in half lengthwise so you get thin “butterflies”. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.
- In a glass or ceramic bowl arrange the shrimp in a single layer and pour over the lime juice so they are covered. Add a pinch of salt and mix. Refrigerate for 20–25 minutes, until the shrimp change color from translucent to pink and opaque.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce: put the jalapeños, half of the coriander, the water, 3–4 tablespoons of lime juice from the shrimp bowl and a pinch of salt into a blender. Blend into a smooth green sauce. If it’s too thick, add a little water.
- Slice the cucumber into thin half-moons and the onion into very thin feathers. Finely chop the remaining coriander.
- Take the shrimp out of the fridge and pour off some of the lime juice so the shrimp are only lightly submerged. Pour the green sauce from the blender into the bowl with the shrimp and gently mix.
- Add the cucumber and onion and gently mix again. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- Chill the aguachile in the fridge for another 5–10 minutes so the flavors meld. Before serving, sprinkle with the remaining fresh coriander and serve with tortilla chips, which you can use to scoop up the shrimp and vegetables.
Storage
Keep any leftover aguachile tightly covered in the refrigerator and eat within 24 hours. The shrimp will continue to firm up in the lime juice, so it’s best as fresh as possible. Store tortilla chips separately so they stay crisp.
