Tacos de Camarón Fresco 194- (Fresh Shrimp Tacos)

Recipe from Velázquez de León, Josefina. Antojitos mexicanos : selección de 100 recetas de los principales platillos de la cocina mexicana. México, D.F. : Academia “Velázquez de Leon”, [194-?]. Pp. 23-24.

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Original Recipe/Receta Original:

Tacos de Camarón Fresco

24 tortillas

240 gramos de camarón fresco

230 gramos de tomates verdes

230 gramos de jitomate

175 gramos de manteca

75 gramos de queso fresco

2 cebollas en vinagre

2 zanahorias en vinagre

3 chiles en vinagre

1 lechuga

Manera de Hacerse:

Ya lavados los camarones, se cuecen, se les quita el pellejo y se parten en pedazos chicos. En una cucharada manteca se fríen una cebolla picada, el jitomate picada, y el camarón, se sazona de sal y pimienta y se deja en el fuego hasta que espesa.

Los tomates se cuecen en una cucharada de manteca, se fríen y se muelen. Las tortillas se fríen ligeramente, se pasan por la salsa, rellenan, se enrollan, se colocan en el platón, se cubren con el queso que rallado, se adornan con las cebollas en vinagre rebanadas, las zanahorias, los chiles y las hojas de lechuga.

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Translated Recipe/Receta Traducida:

Tacos de Camarón Fresco

24 tortillas

1 cup of fresh shrimp

1 cup of tomatillos

1 cup of red tomatoes

2/3 cup of manteca

1/3 cup of queso fresco

2 onions in vinegar

2 carrots in vinegar

3 chiles in vinegar

Lettuce or cilantro for garnish

Preparation:

Wash and remove shell from shrimp, then chop shrimp into small pieces. Heat a tablespoon of manteca in a pan and cook the chopped onion, red tomates, and shrimp, adding salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the shrimp is fully cooked.

Cook the tomatillos in a tablespoon of manteca until cooked. Lightly fry the tortillas, then add the salsa mixture [shrimp, onions, and tomatoes], wrap, and place on a large dish. Garnish with cheese, vinager onions, carrots, and leaves of lettuce/cilantro.

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Commentary/Comentario:

This recipes comes from the cookbook Antojitos mexicanos : selección de 100 recetas de los principales platillos de la cocina mexicana, a popular cookbook written by the Mexican cookbook author Josefina Velázquez de León in 1940s. I was intrigued by the tacos de camaron fresco recipe in the book, since the recipe calls for using all vegetables in marinated in vinegar, and also suggests that the shrimp be cut into small pieces prior to cooking. I had made shrimp tacos on several occassions, and I was almost always pleased with the final results, but for previous recipes I cooked the shrimp whole and used fresh, rather than marinated vegetables. I thought it was worth a try.

I was able to easily locate most of the ingredients in the supermarket, finding the carrots and chiles in vinegar in the hispanic foods section. The only item that was difficult to find were the onions in vinegar, so I just soaked half a red onion in 2 cups of vinegar for hour prior to cooking. I diced the carrots, jitomate (red tomatoes), tomatillos (tomate verde), chiles, onion, and then peeled, washed, and diced the shrimp ( I used a pound of shrimp for the recipe–about double what is called for). After heating a tablespoon of manteca in a pan, I cooked the vinegared onions, jitomate, and shrimp for 3-4 minutes, adding a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate pan, I lighted cooked the tomatillos in a little manteca, then heated white corn tortillas until brown. I added the shrimp mixture to the tacos and garnished with the tomatillos, chiles, cheese, and a pinch of cilantro. And surprisingly, it tasted great. The vinegar of the vegetables adds a nice contrast with the richness of the shrimp and dicing the shrimp ensures that there is a nice balance of shrimp to vegetable in each bite.

Buen provecho!