This is a great meal for anyone who likes to turn up the heat. You can serve this dish either as a main course with rice and a salad, an appetizer, or even as a chilled snack for folks at your next party.
Chilies
The source of the spicy for this recipe comes from three common Latin chilies, poblanos, serrano, and chipotles. The poblanos add a great pepper flavor, without a lot of heat; the serranos are the main heat element and can be substituted for the even spicier habanero for the serious pepperhead; the chipotles add there great smokey flavor that people cannot seem to get enough of lately.
Remember: use caution and these tips for handling chili peppers so you don't end up embarrassing yourself in front of guests.
Shrimp Size
- The type of shrimp you use for this dish is not as important as the freshness. Buy whatever shrimp your fish monger tells you is freshest for your area on that particular day. You probably want to purchase your shrimp the day of cooking this recipe for maximum freshness and flavor.
- Shrimp are sold by size. After being separated into uniform sizes, the shrimp are then marketed by how many shrimp are in a pound (ie. Medium large shrimp are sold are 41/50 count because 41-50 shrimp are in a pound).
- For this recipe 21/25 count (jumbo) shrimp are recommended, but you could size up or down a bit.
Carmarones a la Diabla (serves 6 as a main course)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs 20-24 count shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 poblano peppers seeded and sliced
- 3 serrano peppers or 1 habanero
- 2 tablespoons chipotles en adobo (found canned in the Latin section of your local super grocer)
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 stick of butter (you can substitute half vegetable oil if you're concerned about using this much butter)
- Juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste
Procedure
- Saute your peppers and onions in a little oil. Optionally you could roast your peppers for added flavor. Throw peppers, about a clove of garlic, and tomatoes into a blender and whiz smooth.
- In a large skillet heat the butter. Sauté the remaining garlic and onion.
- Add the shrimp and cook until they turn bright pink.
- Add the blended mixture, cover and simmer for a few minutes.
- Just before serving stir in the lime juice.
Garnish with a lime wedge or a couple fried sliced of poblano pepper. Serve with Spanish rice.
Optional: You could place the shrimp into your refrigerator and serve chilled as an hors d'oeuvre (a variation on the cocktail shrimp).
More more information about the chilies in this recipe check out:
