Aguachile Verde de Camarón (Sinaloa Style)
Aguachile Verde con Camarones Estilo Sinaloa
The most iconic Sinaloan aguachile and the dish that built Mazatlan's reputation. Raw butterflied shrimp flash-cured in an intensely green sauce of lime, serrano and cilantro, dressed with cucumber, red onion and avocado. A fisherman's dish, all sea, lime and chile heat.
Prep
25 minutes
Cook
5 minutes (marinating)
Servings
4
Difficulty
Medium
1 Ingredients
- 500g raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied lengthwise
- Juice of 12 limones mexicanos (about 200ml)
- 6 chiles serranos, stems removed
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 1 cucumber, sliced into thin half-moons
- 1 red onion, sliced into thin rings
- 1 avocado, sliced
- Salt to taste
- 8 corn tostadas, to serve
2 Instructions
- 1
Clean the shrimp: remove heads, shells and the dark vein, then split each shrimp lengthwise (butterfly cut) and arrange in a single layer on a wide cold plate.
- 2
Blend the lime juice with the serranos, cilantro and salt until you have an intensely green, liquid salsa — almost a spicy broth.
- 3
Slice the cucumber thinly, the red onion into rings, and the avocado into strips.
- 4
Pour the sauce evenly over the shrimp so it covers them completely. Refrigerate just 5 minutes — no longer.
- 5
Top with cucumber and onion, garnish with avocado, and serve immediately with tostadas.
💡 Tips from the Kitchen
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Shrimp must be ultra-fresh — they're served barely cured, almost raw.
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Five minutes is the limit. Leave them longer and the lime turns them rubbery.
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Use limones mexicanos (key limes), not Persian limes — the acidity and aroma are completely different.