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Camarones a la diabla
Prawns in fiery chile sauce
Prawns in a fiery red chile and tomato sauce, Mexican Pacific coast style
Camarones a la diabla, 'devil's prawns', come from the seafood shacks of Mexico's Pacific coast, from Mazatlán down to Acapulco, where they are eaten at lunch with cold drinks, white rice and lime. The sauce is a quick blend of toasted guajillo and chile de árbol with tomato and garlic, fried until it darkens and clings, and the prawns go in only for the last few minutes. It is properly hot; use fewer árbol chiles for a milder pan. The common mistake is burning the dried chiles when toasting them: a few seconds a side is enough, and blackened chiles make the whole sauce bitter. Chef's tip: fry the blended sauce in the oil until it turns a shade darker and thick enough to leave a trail; that is where the deep, rounded flavour comes from.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 4 dried guajillo chilesstems and seeds removed
- 4 dried chiles de árbolstems removed; use 1–2 for a milder sauce
- 3 tomatoesripe, quartered
- 3 garlic clovespeeled
- ¼ white onionroughly chopped
- ½ tsp dried oreganoMexican if you have it
- ¾ cup waterhot
- 1 tsp salt
For the prawns
- 1 ⅓ lb raw king prawnspeeled and deveined, tails on or off; defrosted if frozen
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 limejuice of half; the rest cut into wedges
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander (optional)chopped
To serve
- 1 ⅓ lb cooked white ricehot
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Press 4 dried guajillo chiles and 4 dried chiles de árbol flat on it for 5–10 seconds a side, just until they smell toasty and darken slightly. Don't let them blacken.
2 minStep 2: Put the toasted chiles, 3 tomatoes, 3 garlic cloves, ¼ white onion, ½ tsp dried oregano and 1 tsp salt in a blender with ¾ cup water and blend until completely smooth, 1–2 minutes.
3 minStep 3: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wide pan over a medium-high heat. Pour in the sauce through a sieve, pressing it with a spoon (it will spit, so stand back). Fry it, stirring, until it turns a shade darker and thick enough to coat the spoon.
7 minStep 4: Pat 1 ⅓ lb raw king prawns dry, add them to the sauce and stir. Simmer over a medium heat, turning them, until every prawn is pink and opaque all the way through and curled into a loose C, 3–4 minutes. Tightly curled 'O' shapes mean they are overcooked.
4 minStep 5: Squeeze in the juice of half of 1 lime, taste and add salt if needed. Scatter with 1 tbsp fresh coriander and serve straight away with 1 ⅓ lb cooked white rice and the remaining lime wedges.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 420 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does camarones a la diabla take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- What can I use instead of tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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