Aguachile (prawns in chilli water)
4
Easy
30 minutes
3 minutes
This is a perfect summer dish that is as refreshing as a dip in the Gulf of California on a hot day. It is a kind of ceviche, the difference being that it needs to be served immediately once you mix the prawns with the cucumber, lime and onion. It should also be very spicy. The prawns will be “cooked” in the lime juice, but they still need to be raw-ish, so quality prawns are essential – never use frozen or precooked prawns. Here in Adelaide, I like to use tiger prawns. Recently we created a miniature version – a sort of canapé – using fresh scallops, where we used the shell as a serving plate. The name aguachile literally means “chilli water”. This comes from the blitz of lime, cucumber, jalapeños and lime juice that becomes something similar to water (agua in Spanish). Serve with corn chips or tostadas and some tequila or mezcal.
Ingredients
Method
- 800 g large raw prawns (3 prawns per person)
- 1½ long cucumbers
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ white onion, for the marinade
- ¼ bunch coriander
- 1 jalapeño or 2 Serrano chillies – or any other green chilli (but make sure they’re hot)
- 1½ t table salt
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons, for serving
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil, for serving
- 200 g corn chips or 4 tostadas, for serving
Method
Ingredients
1. Peel and remove the veins from the prawns. Butterfly the prawns lengthways, cutting from the back to the belly but not all the way through. Set aside.
2. Cut 1 cucumber in half lengthways and slice both halves thinly into 3 mm-thick half-moons for the garnish. Keep the slices in the shape of the cucumber.
3. Peel the remaining half with a potato peeler – a bit of skin is okay – then cut into rough chunks. Place this cucumber, the lime juice, onion, coriander, jalapeños and salt in a blender or food processor. Blend for 1 minute until liquidised. Taste – it should blast with lime, spice and salt. If happy, place in a glass bowl.
4. Just before serving, place the prawns into the mix, toss them to cover with the aguachile sauce and leave them to “cook” for 3 minutes.
5. Serve the prawns on a platter with all the sauce and place the slices of cucumber all around the platter. Finally, dress the plate with the thinly sliced red onion and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve the aguachile with corn chips or tostadas.
Extracted with permission from Provecho: Real Mexican Food at Home by Daniella Guevara Muñoz. Photographs by Simon Bajada 2025
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