What are Aguachiles?
In Spanish, “Aguachiles” translates to “Chile Water”. It specifically refers to the spicy chile-based marinade/sauce used in this recipe. Aguachiles originated from Sinaloa, a state in Northwestern Mexico.
This recipe is similar to ceviche in that they both use acid from lime to cook the shrimp without need for heat. This creates an amazingly fresh-tasting topping for tostadas.
Zoe and I were first introduced to aguachiles at a food truck in Chula Vista, a beautiful city just north of the US-Mexico border in southern California. We were warned that aguachiles are spicy and this definitely held true. The peppers used in the sauce pack some serious heat!
Grow your own Peppers!
We’ve been holding off on making this recipe until the peppers from our pepper plants ripened and were ready to use. And at long last, these habanero beauties were ready to pick. Not shown are the serrano and Fresno peppers grown in the same pot. If you haven’t tried growing your own peppers, we would highly recommend it. They’re easy and fun to grow and taste great freshly picked!
Variations of this Recipe
The most traditional way of making aguachiles in Sinaloa calls for soaking chiltepines, a specific type of pepper from Sinaloa, in boiled water. However, many different variations have been created from this original concept. Since we didn’t have access to chiltepines, we instead used serrano and habenero peppers.
In this post, we present two different types of aguachiles. Just make sure to keep scrolling to find both recipes!
Aguachiles Verdes
This variation of aguachiles is one of the most well-known. The deep green color comes from serrano peppers, cilantro, and cucumbers. This is the less-spicy version of the two.
Aguachiles with Mango Habanero Salsa
This version of aguachiles uses mango for sweetness and habanero chili peppers for a spicy kick. This level of spiciness is not for the faint of heart. If you want to learn more about the irresistible mango habanero combination, check out our recipe for homemade Mango Habanero Salsa!
Tips for Making Aguachiles
- Firstly of all, set your level of spiciness, keeping in mind that you can add spiciness but not subtract! When making the aguachile sauce/marinade, start out throwing a single pepper (especially if you’re using the habanero pepper) into the blender and taste it. If not spicy enough, just keep adding and blending peppers. You can also decide to include the seeds if you want to add extra spiciness.
- If you want more of a smoky flavored aguachile, you can first briefly toast the peppers and garlic on the stove or barbecue. Roasted mango habanero salsa is delicious too!
- You don’t need to use a blender for making the sauces. Instead, you can use either a food processor or immersion blender.
- If you don’t have readily-available tostadas, chips work just as well (which would make it more like how you eat ceviche).
- If you don’t finish them in one serving, they should be ok stored in the fridge for the next day or two (although over time, the acid from the lime might make the shrimp overly-chewy).
- Experiment with different ingredients and let us know in the comments below what your favorite type of aguachile is!
Mango Habanero Aguachiles
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw shrimp
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (roughly 5-6 limes)
- ¼ red onion finely sliced (like with mandolin)
- 1 mango
- 1-3 habanero peppers
- Tostadas
Instructions
- First, prepare the shrimp by peeling, deveining, removing the stems, and either butterflying them or slicing completely in half. Place these in a bowl along with ¼ cup lime and a pinch of salt.
- Let the acid from the lime cook the shrimp for at least 30 minutes, flipping once or twice, until all sides have turned from gray to white/pink.
- Meanwhile, in a blender, add habanero peppers, a pinch of salt/pepper, and most of the mango (save some extra slices for garnish). Blend until smooth.
- After shrimp has fully cooked in lime, add the red onion slices to the shrimp and pour over the mango habanero sauce. Cover and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to several hours.
- When ready to serve, top with some fresh cilantro leaves. Serve cold atop the tostadas.
Aguachiles Verdes
Ingredients
- 1 lb raw shrimp
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (roughly 5-6 limes)
- ¼ red onion finely sliced (like with mandolin)
- 1 garlic clove
- 2-4 serrano chiles
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 cucumber halved and sliced
- 1 avocado sliced
- Tostadas
Instructions
- First, prepare the shrimp by peeling, deveining, removing the stems, and either butterflying them or slicing completely in half. Place these in a bowl along with ¼ cup lime and a pinch of salt.
- Let the acid from the lime cook the shrimp for at least 30 minutes, flipping once or twice, until all sides have turned from gray to white/pink.
- Meanwhile, in a blender, add serrano peppers (optional to quickly char them on the stovetop first) (also optional to remove the seeds for a less spicy recipe), garlic, ¼ cup lime juice, a pinch of salt/pepper, and ½ of the cilantro bunch (including stems). Blend until smooth.
- After shrimp has fully cooked in lime, add the cucumber and red onion slices to the shrimp and pour over the green sauce. Cover and place in refrigerator for about 30 minute.
- When ready to serve, add avocado slices and top with some fresh cilantro leaves. Serve cold atop the tostadas.
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