Aguachile

Aguachile is a Mexican seafood dish, translating to ‘chilli water’. Essentially, it's a ceviche, typically made with either prawns or scallops, or both. Marinated in lime juice and served in a chilli-lime marinade, this dish is usually garnished with cucumber, pickled red onions and avocado.

As with ceviche, the acidic lime juice cooks the prawns and imparts tartness. The final product is light, refreshing, and exploding with fresh flavours. This recipe is also delicious with raw fish instead of prawns.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 250-300g prawns
• 2 fresh limes, juiced

• 3 fresh limes, juiced
• 3 jalapeños, stems removed
• 1 bunch fresh coriander
• 2 cloves garlic
• Pinch salt

• 1/2 red onion
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1/3 cucumber, sliced
• Fresh coriander
• Corn chips

• Sharp knife
• Mandoline
• Juicer

Method

1.    Start with preparing the prawns. If using whole prawns as I have, gently remove the head, outer shell and tail, then using a sharp knife, slowly cut the prawns in half and remove the intestinal tract.

2.    Place the sliced prawns into a tray or bowl and cover with the juice of two limes. You want to make sure the prawns are completely submerged so that they cook evenly in the citrus.

3.    Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4.    Using a mandoline, and being very careful not to lose any digits, thinly slice the red onion as finely as possible. Pile the shaved onions into a bowl and cover with water, a pinch of salt and the white vinegar. This will really let the colour pop.

5.    If you don’t have a mandoline, you can thinly slice the onions using a sharp knife.

6.    To make the sauce, add the juice of three limes, jalapeños (seeds and all), fresh coriander, cloves of garlic and a good pinch of salt to a bullet blender and whizz everything up into a smooth, saucy consistency.

7.    The garnishes are important for this dish. To add a bit of fat, halve an avocado, scoop out the flesh and thinly slice. For crunch, grab the cucumber, remove the seeds and roughly slice.

To serve:

You can go rustic or fine dining with this dish. Begin with placing or piling the cooked prawns onto a plate, followed by as much or as little of the zesty jalapeño sauce as you want. Dress the top of the prawns with the pickled red onions, sliced avo, cucumber, and a good bunch of coriander. 

- Recipe by Simon Walden, @thetradiebbq