Mexcaltitán Shrimp Chowder (Tlaxtihuille)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry cast iron comal for toasting chiles and dried shrimp
• •Volcanic stone molcajete, spice grinder, or blender for grinding dried shrimp
• •4- to 5-quart clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for stirring the masa-thickened broth

Instructions

1. 1

   Grind the shrimp

   Sort the dried shrimp. Pull away long antennae or hard bits. Put 3 ounces on a dry comal over medium-low heat and toast for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the color deepens and the smell is clean, salty, and concentrated. Grind them in a molcajete, spice grinder, or blender until you have a fine powder. Rinse the remaining 2 ounces quickly under cool water and set them aside whole.

   Do not soak all the dried shrimp or you throw flavor down the sink. Rinse the whole shrimp if they are very salty. Toast the shrimp you are grinding.
2. 2

   Build the broth

   Put the reserved fresh shrimp shells and heads, 8 cups water, one quarter of the onion, and 2 garlic cloves in a heavy pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook 20 minutes. Strain, pressing on the shells, and discard the solids. You should have about 7 cups of broth. If you are short, add enough hot water to get there. This broth is the sea in the pot.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo separately, about 15 to 20 seconds per side, until the skin relaxes and the smell turns sweet. Toast the chile pasilla negro for 10 to 15 seconds per side. Pasilla is thin and goes bitter fast. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl, cover with hot water, and soak 20 minutes.

   If a chile turns black, throw it out. Burned chile makes a bitter tlaxtihuille and no amount of lime will save it.
4. 4

   Blend the base

   On the same comal, char the remaining onion and 2 garlic cloves in spots. Toast the cumin seeds for 20 seconds, just until fragrant. Drain the soaked chiles and blend them with the charred onion, charred garlic, cumin, dried shrimp powder, and 2 cups shrimp broth. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. You want chile flavor, not flakes of skin.

5. 5

   Fry the paste

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the strained chile and shrimp paste. It will sputter. Stir 6 to 8 minutes, until the color turns deeper brick red and little dots of fat separate on the surface. La manteca es el sabor. This is where the broth stops tasting raw.

6. 6

   Work the masa

   Let 2 cups of the shrimp broth cool until warm, not hot. Work the masa into that broth with your fingers or a whisk until smooth, then strain it if you see lumps. Slowly stir the masa mixture into the fried chile paste. Add the remaining shrimp broth while stirring constantly. At first it looks too loose. Then the corn wakes up and thickens the pot. Sin grumos. No lumps.

   Masa goes into warm broth before it goes into the pot. Drop masa straight into hot liquid and you will chase lumps for the rest of the afternoon.
7. 7

   Season the atole

   Add the rinsed whole dried shrimp, epazote, the slit serrano if using, and the strained tequesquite water or sea salt. Simmer gently 15 to 20 minutes, stirring the bottom often with a wooden spoon. The broth should coat the spoon but still pour. If it stands like polenta, loosen it with hot water or broth. Tlaxtihuille is thick, not stiff.

8. 8

   Add fresh shrimp

   Taste for salt first because dried shrimp keeps speaking as it cooks. Add the peeled fresh shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes, just until they curl and turn opaque. Turn off the heat. Residual heat finishes them. Boil them hard and they tighten like rubber. No me vengas con atajos.

9. 9

   Serve in clay

   Remove the epazote stems and the serrano. Ladle the tlaxtihuille into deep clay bowls or serve family-style from the cazuela. Put lime halves and warm corn tortillas on the table. A few drops of lime wake up the dried shrimp and chile. That is enough. Nayarit gives you sea and corn in one spoon. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Buy dried whole shrimp from a Mexican market, preferably Pacific coast shrimp. They should be pink-orange and smell clean, salty, and marine. If they smell like ammonia, walk away. You can have perfect technique and bad shrimp and you will get a bad pot.
• •Fresh masa from a tortillería gives better body than masa harina. Masa harina works when you live far from a tortillería, but it is a compromise, not an upgrade. Let it hydrate before using or it will taste dusty.
• •Tequesquite must be food-grade. Dissolve it, let grit settle, and strain it before it touches the pot. If your market vendor cannot tell you where it came from, use sea salt and keep your dignity.
• •This is not a dairy chowder. No cream, no milk, no roux. The thickness comes from corn. If it gets too thick, loosen it with hot shrimp broth.
• •If you find chile cora or good chile cascabel from Nayarit, toast two and use them in place of one pasilla. That is a market correction, not a shortcut.

Advance Preparation

• •The dried shrimp can be toasted and ground up to 3 days ahead. Keep the powder in a tightly closed jar in the refrigerator.
• •The shrimp broth and strained chile paste can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated separately. Fry the paste and add the masa on the day you serve.
• •Finished tlaxtihuille thickens as it sits. Reheat gently with a splash of hot water or shrimp broth, stirring from the bottom. Do not freeze it. Masa turns grainy after freezing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 470g)