Shrimp Aguachile Recipe

5 (1)

Since stumbling across this famous raw seafood dish from Mexican, we’ve been obsessed with it. The amazing bright green color and spicy, vibrant flavors of this classic recipe are so captivating. We’ve spent a little bit of time perfecting this dish and have enjoyed chowing down some beautiful Aguachile in the process! This recipe may very well be the best Shrimp Aguachile recipe we’ve ever eaten. The best news – it’s ridiculously easy to make at home that anyone can do it!

As the name suggests, this is a spicy dish!

A classic Shrimp Aguachile Recipe is packed with plenty of spice. I mean, the name of the dish itself has the world ‘Chile’ in it, so you’ve got to make sure there’s some heat in the dish. Typically, an Aguachile consists of two kinds of Chilis, Jalapenos and Serrano Peppers. You can always add more chilis or even different types of Chilis to adjust the spice and flavor of the sauce

For the feint hearted, we recommend only using Jalapeno Peppers and try to remove as many of the seeds from the Chilis as possible. The seeds are really where the heat is concentrated in all types of Chili and Peppers and are scorchingly hot (just try putting one in your mouth by itself to see for yourself!).

We do recommend including some element of heat in the dish too. It is really what gives Aguachile it’s defining characteristic, along with that vibrant, bright green color

To prepare the Shrimp you will need to remove their shells and devein them

This is never the most enjoyable part of preparing a Shrimp recipe, however it is necessary. We want to discard any Shells from the Shrimp and remove the black vein that runs along the back of the Shrimp. That vein contains nasty stuff you don’t want to eat. Edible? Yes. Tasty? No!

You can sometimes find raw Shrimp that has already been prepared with the shells and vein removed. If not, however, we’ve prepared a simple video on our YouTube Channel on the best way to shell and devein shrimp. You can check out the video here too:

This process does add about 10 – 15 minutes to the cooking time we’ve listed in the recipe below. So just factor that into consideration when you are planning to create this meal. Just take your time when deveining the Shrimp too, as it can be easy to unnecessarily cut the Shrimp where you don’t want to. One of the strengths of a great Shrimp Aguachile Recipe is how beautiful it looks on the plate. So, just take your time in the preparation stage of this delicious protein

‘Cooking’ the Shrimp

A Shrimp Aguachile is very similar to a Ceviche in that the seafood is prepared raw but ‘cooked’ in Lime Juice. The acidity in the Lime Juices will slowly cook the Shrimp, which you’ll see before your eyes as the color will change to a bright pink color. The best way to prepare the Shrimp for Aguachile is to slice them in half right down the center. Like you are butterflying them

This method will keep the uniform, beautiful, curved shape of the Shrimp but halve them in size. This allows them to cook a lot quicker, which significantly cuts down on the preparation time. Carefully butterfly the Shrimp with a sharp knife and hold the Shrimp in place with the palm of your opposite hand on top of the Shrimp. This is the best method for butterflying as there is no risk of you accidentally cutting yourself

Then you will need to place the Shrimp pieces on a flat plate with a slight rim on it (like most plates have). Avoid stacking the Shrimp on top of each other, get them all flat on the surface. Add enough Lime Juice to the plate so that all the Shrimp will be partially submerged in the juice. We used the juice of 4 Limes for this step, but it will depend on how many Shrimp you have, and how large your plate is

Word of advice, this dish requires a lot of Lime Juice! We recommend buying a big bag of Limes as the worst thing that could happen here is not having enough Lime to adequately flavor the Shrimp Aguachile

How long should you marinate Shrimp in Lime Juice to cook it for a Ceviche or Aguachile?

There are a few factors to determine how long is ‘enough’ marinating time to cook the Shrimp. Each Lime is different, so some may take longer or less time to cook the Shrimp. Also how thick cut the Shrimp is will play a factor in the cooking time

The best advice is to just it by how it looks. Once the Shrimp has turned a beautiful bright pink color throughout (and on both sides), then it is cooked. The Shrimp should be springy to the touch and have formed into a ‘C’ shape

If the Shrimp is still blue, or translucent in parts then continue to keep it in the Lime Juice for a little longer. For this recipe we are butterflying the Shrimp and partially submerging it in Lime Juice. Therefore, you will need to flip the Shrimp every 10 minutes or so, allowing both sides to get equal time submerged in the Juice

Continue to check the doneness of the Shrimp every time you go to flip the Shrimp and once they are completely cooked, remove them from the Lime Juice to prevent them from continuously cooking. We recommend preparing the rest of the dish and serving it immediately, ensuring optimal freshness and flavor

The final step in a Classic Shrimp Aguachile is making the Sauce

You will need a blender for the final element of the dish, which is creating that vibrant green sauce. The Sauce consists of a combination of Cilantro, Lime Juice, Garlic, Jalapeno and Serrano Peppers, along with some Salt for flavor

Many popular Aguachile recipes (including ours) includes Cucumber to the sauce. The Cucumber has such a high water content that it will help assist the blending process. It adds a subtle, refreshing flavor to the dish and brings even more beautiful green color

Add all the ingredients into the Blender and give it a blitz until smooth. If you find that the liquid isn’t catching and blending straight away, try adding the residual Lime Juice from the Shrimp marinade to move things on. If it’s still not catching, you can add a little bit of Water to kick it all off. Not too much however, as the Water will dilute the flavor of the sauce

Once it’s all blitzed up and smooth an optional step is to strain through a fine sieve. There will be thicker pieces of sauce (from the vegetables), that you can opt to remove from the result if you’re after a smoother result. Personally, I like to keep it all as it’s just more flavor!

Bringing it all together

Once your sauce is prepared and the Shrimp are cooked, it’s simply a matter of combining them both into a serving bowl then adding some garnish. Be sure to add all the Lime Juice the Shrimp has been marinating in, this is packed full of flavor!

To garnish, slice up a few pieces of Cucumber and Radish for a striking visual appearance. They’ll also give some nice crunchy texture to the dish. Serve with a big bowl of Corn Chips and then dive in!

Shrimp Aguachile Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ lb. Raw Shrimp, deveined and shells removed
• 1 Cucumber, cut into small chunks (reserve a few slices for the final presentation)
• 2 Garlic Cloves, peeled
• 2 Jalapenos, deseeded
• 1 Serrano Chili, deseeded
• 8 Limes
• 1 cup of Cilantro Leaves
• 2 Radishes, cut into slices
• ¼ Red Onion, finely sliced
• 2 tsp. White Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
  

Equipment needed: Blender

Instructions

1. Butterfly the Shrimp by cutting them in half with a sharp knife, then place on a large plate, avoiding stacking
2. Add the Juice of 3 – 4 limes to the plate, enough to coat the plate and partially submerge the Shrimp. Refrigerate and turn the Shrimp every 10 minutes until both sides are pink and cooked. This should take 30 – 40 minutes
3. While the Shrimp is marinating, add the Cucumber, Garlic, Jalapenos, Serrano, Cilantro, and ½ tsp. Salt into the blender. Add the Juice of 4 Limes and Zest from 1 Lime and blitz until smooth. Pour sauce into a serving bowl
4. To make the Pickled Onions, combine them with ½ tsp. of Salt and White Vinegar in a small bowl. Mix well to combine and leave for 30 minutes
5. Once the Shrimp is cooked, add to the sauce along with the Lime Juice and mix well to combine. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary
6. Garnish with slices of Radish, Cucumber, and the Pickled Onions. You can serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours prior to serving. Serve along with a bowl of Corn Chips and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

• We have a great video on our YouTube Channel on how to peel and devein Shrimp (LINK)
• You can blitz the Cilantro stems too, so don’t spent ages trying to pick away all the leaves from the stems, just throw them all into the blender
  
  

That’s our recipe for what very well be the best Shrimp Aguachile Recipe going around! Rich in bright flavors and beautiful to look at, it’s a show stopping dish perfect for an appetizer or light dinner

If you enjoyed this recipe we’ve got loads more Seafood based dishes for you to check out. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Red Snapper Aguachile
• White Wine Butter Mussels
• Easy Homemade Tuna Tartare
• Holiday Seafood Platter
  
  

Happy Cooking!