At its best, summer cooking requires almost no cooking at all. Deep into yet another heatwave, the only things worth eating right now are crisp, fresh, zesty or chilled. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have some heat of their own.
While building out my repertoire of no-cook recipes, I thought back to trying aguachile in Mexico City two years ago. The Sinaloan dish, whose name translates to “chilli water”, is often likened to ceviche. It’s true that both share the common thread of raw seafood, cured by citrus juice. The “chile” in the name is no accident, though: Aguachile packs a punch.
There are many ways to make aguachile – I opted to prepare two versions. The first, aguachile verde, is a popular option that’s green with coriander, jalapeños, cucumber, avocado and lime. Raw prawns are deveined and butterflied, then submerged just long enough in the verdant liquid until they turn opaque.
The second, aguachile rojo, is even punchier. While it’s traditionally made with tiny chiltepín chillis, I used a mix of easier-to-find arbol and cascabel chillis, plus grapefruit and lime juice, garlic and a dash of Maggi Liquid Seasoning. And rather than prawns, I went for sweet, tender, hand-dived scallops.
Aguachile is best made with the freshest seafood, so prepare and enjoy it the same day that you purchase yours, ideally accompanied by a pile of tortilla chips. And to get the most of this most summery of meals, keep a bottle of sparkling Quarticello Despina close at hand.
Lager is a common accompaniment to aguachile, but I was delighted by how well the Despina worked with the dish. Hailing from Emilia-Romagna and made with the local Malvasia di Candia grape, this has notes of salty grapefruit that lend it a margarita vibe (just more sophisticated). It has the body and subtle sweetness to stand up to the aguachile, managing to dampen its heat and quench the thirst at once, offering a delightfully refreshing heatwave reprieve.
Aguachile Two Ways
Loosely adapted from New York Times Cooking
Serves two as a main or four as a starter
For the aguachile verde:
250g prawns 125ml lime juice (from approx. 3 limes)
1-2 jalapeños, stemmed (and seeded, if preferred)
20g fresh coriander leaves, plus more to garnish
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ red onion
½ small cucumber
1 avocado
Tortilla chips or tostadas, to serve
For the aguachile rojo:
1-2 dried arbol chillis (or use other varieties; I swapped in one cascabel chile)
250g scallops (look for hand-dived rather than dredged, which are far less environmentally destructive)
100ml pink grapefruit juice (from approx. ½ grapefruit)
25ml lime juice (from approx. ½ lime)
1-2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon Maggi Liquid Seasoning (optional)
¼ red onion
½ small cucumber
100g radishes
Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
Tortilla chips or tostadas, to serve
1. First, prepare the aguachile verde. Rinse the prawns, then peel and devein. Using a sharp paring knife, cut most of the way through the prawn to butterfly it, which helps ensure it cures evenly. Transfer the prawns to a medium bowl and place in the fridge to keep cool while you prepare the rest of the aguachile.
2. To a blender, add the lime juice, jalapeño(s), coriander leaves and sea salt. Blend on high for roughly 30 seconds, or until the mixture is virtually uniform. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into a small bowl, and transfer to the fridge to cool slightly. Wipe out your blender, as you will also need it for the aguachile rojo.
3. Next, prepare the aguachile rojo. Remove the stems from the dried chillis (and the seeds, if preferred), and transfer to a ramekin. Pour over just enough boiling water to cover and leave to soften for 5–10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the scallops. Rinse and remove any membrane from around the scallops and slice each thinly. Transfer to a medium bowl and place in the fridge to keep cool while you prepare the rest of the aguachile.
5. After the dried chillis have soaked, drain and add them to the blender, alongside the grapefruit juice, lime juice, garlic, sea salt and Maggi Liquid Seasoning (if using). Blend on high for roughly 30 seconds, or until the mixture is virtually uniform. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into a small bowl and transfer to the fridge to cool slightly.
6. When ready, remove both aguachile mixtures and bowls of seafood from the fridge. Peel and thinly slice half a red onion and divide the slices between the two seafood bowls. Pour the aguachile verde mixture over the prawns and stir well to ensure the prawns are mostly submerged in the liquid. Repeat with the scallops, pouring over the aguachile rojo mixture and stirring to combine. Return both bowls to the fridge and leave to chill and cure for 20–30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the remaining garnishes. Thinly slice a small cucumber for both aguachiles. Halve and pit an avocado for the aguachile verde, and slice very thinly. Thinly slice the radishes for the aguachile rojo.
8. Once done, remove both aguachiles from the fridge. For the aguachile verde, scatter half the cucumber slices over the dish, and arrange the avocado slices in fanned-out scoops. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. For the aguachile rojo, add the remaining cucumber slices and the radish slices, and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
9. Serve both aguachiles right away, alongside a large bowl of tortilla chips or tostadas.
Claire M Bullen is a professional food and travel writer and all-around lover of tasty things. You can follow her at @clairembullen. For more recipes like this, sign up to our Natural Wine Killers wine subscription - you'll receive Claire's recipe and food pairings plus expert tasting notes for three amazing wines like this one every month (or two, if you choose our bi-monthly option).
