One of my favorite things about living in Southern California, besides In-N-Out of course, is the weather! It’s usually pretty warm and sunny, which is the perfect weather for mariscos.
When I was a kid, my parents would take us to the beach, what seemed like every other weekend, and my mom would pack ceviche and saltines for us to snack on while my dad and I tried to catch some fish. She’d prep everything right before we’d leave so by the time we’d get to the beach, the lime juice would have cooked the shrimp.
Whenever my dad had a hand in the ceviche though, he’d make this spicy green sauce that one of his buddies from el estado de Nayarit showed him how to make, and I realize now, that he was making aguachile, that has influenced my Southern California dishes! If you’re not familiar with it, aguachile is very similar to ceviche. The seafood is still cooked in lime juice, but the main difference is that it is typically served in a spicy sauce, which is where you get aguachile (chile water) from.
Today, we’ll be making a shrimp and scallop aguachile rojo, that pairs perfectly with Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel. Their white zinfandel is refreshingly sweet with notes of strawberry and melon, and pairs perfectly with spicy foods, and seafood!
I went over on Instagram stories to show how I was making it and I received a bunch of really good questions. Where do I purchase the seafood? I typically purchase my seafood at Sprouts, and when I purchase seafood for ceviche or aguachile, I smell it before I start working with it. It should smell fresh, and not sour or stinky. If it does, I’d advise you against cooking with it. How long do you typically cook the shrimp in the lime juice? This is totally up to you. I personally like to let to shrimp cook for about 20 minutes, but if you want them to be completely cooked through, you can cook your seafood in the lime juice for 40-50 minutes until the shrimp turns pink and the scallops are completely opaque.
This is a great recipe to have on deck because it is pretty versatile. You can serve it as botana for a get together, or you can serve it as a full meal and accompany it with chips guacamole, and a nice chilled glass of Sutter Home’s White Zinfandel.
Be sure to head over to Sutter Home’s website for more recipe inspiration and wine pairings!
Special thank you to Sutter Home for sponsoring this post.
