Aguachile Rojo

The easiest no-cook 20 minute recipe for a spicy summer starter. 

Aguachile simply means ‘chilli water’ or ‘spicy water’ in Spanish and it’s the easiest, no-cook, fastest recipe for summer because the prawns are simply cured in lime juice and it only takes 15 minutes in the fridge for them to cure. Whilst you’re waiting you can prep the sauce. Aguachile is normally a green sauce (with jalapeno, coriander and cucumber) but I’ve done red chilli version to complement the flavour of the chips. There’s mild red fresh chillies, sriracha, fish sauce, salt, lime juice, coriander stalks and a dehydrated dried ancho chilli, which is completely optional but it adds more complexity to the chilli flavour in the sauce.

This aguachile rojo pairs perfectly with these new spicy chilli sriracha chips from Red Rock Deli. A chilli lover’s dream, they’re both bold, spicy but complex, transporting your tastebuds to the flavours of sriracha. You get a nice balance of heat, tangy and crunch in one bite. 

Serves- 2 as a shared starter

Ingredients- 11

Cooking Time- 20 minutes

Skill Level- Easy

Ingredients

1 packet of Red Rock Deli Spicy Chili Sriracha chips, 

10 banana prawns, peeled, deveined and halved lengthwise

4-5 limes

2 mild red chillies. Generally the smaller the hotter so find bigger ones

2 dried ancho chillies, optional

½ tablespoon of fish sauce

Pinch of salt

½ tablespoon of sriracha

2-3 stalks of coriander

¼ small red onion, finely sliced

Fresh red chillies, finely sliced for garnishing

Method

1. Place prawns into a bowl with the juice of 2-3 limes until they are fully submerged in the juice. Cover and place in the fridge for 15 minutes whilst you prep the sauce.

2. If using dried chillies in your aguachile, place into a bowl covered in boiling water for 15 minutes to rehydrate them. Cut a few slices of your fresh chilies and set aside as the garnish for later.

3. Place chillies (both fresh and rehydrated dried), sriracha, fish sauce, salt, juice of 2 limes and the white ends/roots of your coriander stalks into a blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed but it should be a good mix of punchy, sour, spicy and salty.

4. Remove prawns from the fridge and check to see if they have cured and are ready. The flesh should have turned from translucent to a whitish opaque, almost the same colour when they cook. Drain the lime juice and squeeze out any excess liquid from the prawns.

5. Pour over the sauce and mix to allow the prawns to absorb the sauce.

6. To serve, place the prawns and sauce into a shallow bowl and garnish with the red onion, coriander and fresh chilli slices.

7. To eat, simply place one prawn with some of the onion, coriander and chilli onto a chip and eat in one bite.

Watch the Process

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