Name: Camarones a la Diabla (Deviled Shrimp)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 300 g Prawns, peeled and deveined; 2 Dried Guajillo Chiles, stemmed and seeded; 3 Dried Arbol Chiles, stemmed; 200 g Tomato, roughly chopped; ½ Onion, roughly chopped; 2 clove Garlic, peeled; 1½ tbsp Neutral Oil, for cooking; 1 tbsp Lemon Juice, fresh; ¾ tsp Salt, adjust to taste; ¼ tsp Black Peppercorns, freshly ground; 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped, for garnish; ½ cup Water, for blending the sauce

35 mintotal

Prep 15 min · Cook 20 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Spicy

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Method

Toast the guajillo and arbol chiles briefly on a dry pan until fragrant, then soak them in hot water until softened.
Blend the softened chiles with tomato, onion, garlic, and the measured water until smooth.
Heat the measured oil in a pan, add the blended sauce, and simmer until the sauce thickens and the raw aroma fades.
Season the prawns with salt, black pepper, and lemon juice, then add them to the sauce.
Cook just until the prawns turn opaque and curl gently, then finish with fresh coriander.

How to tell it's done

The sauce should cling to the prawns, and the prawns should be juicy, opaque, and gently curled.

Getting it right

Tip

Add the prawns only after the sauce has cooked down; overcooked prawns become rubbery very quickly.

What to serve it with

Serve with Mexican red rice, warm tortillas, or avocado slices to balance the chile heat.

Common mistakes

The sauce is bitter.: Toast the dried chillies for seconds, not minutes, and only until they smell fragrant. A chilli that darkens or smokes turns bitter, and one burnt chilli ruins the whole batch.
The prawns are tough.: Get the sauce fully cooked and thickened before they go in. Prawns need about two minutes; anything longer while you wait for the sauce to reduce and they are ruined.

Substitutions

Dried Arbol Chiles — Reduce the number of arbol chiles for a less fiery sauce, but keep some for the diabla character.

Storing and reheating

The sauce keeps four days in the fridge and freezes for three months, and it is worth making in a double batch. Cooked prawns do not reheat well, so store the sauce alone and cook prawns into it fresh.

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Ingredients