Globecooking recipe : Cazuela de camarones (Mexico)

This recipe for Cazuela de camarones came from my Mexican-themed Kitchen Trotter box, which focused particularly on the Yucatan region. I followed the ingredients to the letter but decided to leave it chunky, rather than blending it to make a smooth soup. It was very quick to prepare and tasty enough, but it was almost identical to the Sri Lankan Chilli Prawns, or  Isso Thel Dhala, that I made a while ago.

I used two ingredients from the box : chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (very hot with a lovely smoky flavour) and epazote, also known as Mexican tea, which has minty, lemony, eucalyptus flavours. Looking around online at other versions, this can also incorporate other seafood (squid, clams, etc) and for a more complex, richer dish, you can add coconut milk and fish stock into the recipe.

Cazuela de camarones

ingredients :

500g prawns 

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

2tbsp olive oil

1 tomato

1/2 a chipotlé chilli

1tsp epazote (you could use oregano/dried mint instead)

If using raw prawns, start by flash frying then peeling them. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion and garlic. 

Add the tomato and cook for a few minutes until it's soft. The original recipe now says to whizz this in a blender to make a smooth soup/stew base but I decided to skip that step.

Add the prawns, the chipotlé, the epazote and a glass of water.

Cook for ten minutes until the sauce thickens. Add a spoonful of tomato puree to thicken it, if necessary (but you probably won't need it if you liquidised the sauce in the early stages of cooking).

Add extra chilli if you want a bigger kick. Serve over rice or with crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

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