Tacos de Camarones al Mojo de Ajo
These garlic shrimp tacos are a mashup of flavors which work really well together. Garlicky shrimp served on a bed of tangy vinegar slaw topped with a sharp arból chile salsa seasoned with a touch of Mexican oregano.
Great Tacos Deserve a Great Salsa
A nice sharp tomato and arból chile pepper salsa counterbalance the rich shrimp.
1. How to Make the Arból Chile Salsa
As we have prepared it, the salsa is very sharp and very hot from the number of chiles we have used. Reduce the number of chiles if you prefer a mild salsa. Try this salsa with our pan-fried fish tacos too.
Ingredients for the salsa: plum tomatoes, garlic, arból chile, and Mexican oregano.
Let’s start – Quarter the tomatoes and peel the garlic cloves.
Heat a large dry frying pan to medium-hot. Add the quartered tomatoes, garlic, and árbol chiles to toast.
Toast the chiles for 30 seconds on each side and then remove from the pan.
Toast the garlic for 2 more minutes then remove from the pan. Continue to toast the tomatoes until they blacken.
Add all of the ingredients except the oil to your blender and blend for 1 minute.
In the same frying pan that you toasted the tomatoes, garlic and chiles heat the 2 tablespoons of oil to high heat. Pour the blended salsa into the hot oil.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, then cook the salsa for 10 minutes.
2. How to Prepare the Cabbage Slaw Garnish
Pour 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into the bowl with the cabbage.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
Mix thoroughly so that all of the cabbage is coated with vinegar and salt. Set aside until you are ready to serve your tacos.
3. How to Prepare the Shrimp
If your shrimp come with the shells, remove the shells.
Devein the shrimp by making an incision lengthwise along the back of the shrimp and gently remove the black vein with the tip of a knife.
Finely chop the garlic. Preheat a large frying pan to medium-hot. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring 3 times so that the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add the shrimp to the pan and stir to coat the shrimp with butter.
Cook the shrimp for about 6 minutes until just cooked through. Stir and turn the shrimp every minute. To check for doneness, cut a couple of shrimp in half. If the shrimp is a pinkish white throughout it is fully cooked. If there are still translucent spots the shrimp needs to be cooked more. Cook for 1 more minute and then check for doneness again.
4. How to Assemble the Tacos
This is the easiest and most fun part. On each corn tortilla, layer a bed of cabbage slaw, 3 shrimps and then a dollop of salsa on each shrimp.
Serve 3 tacos per person, and then enjoy!
Provecho!
Garlic Shrimp Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
Arbol Chile Salsa
- 3 plum tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 to 4 árbol chiles
- 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp oil
Vinegar Cabbage Slaw
- 3 cups finely shredded cabbage
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
Garlic Shrimp
- 1 1/4 lb. of medium-sized shrimp
- 6 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp salt
Other
- 12 corn tortillas
Instructions
Arból Chile Salsa
- Quarter the tomatoes.
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Heat a large dry frying pan to medium-hot. Add the quartered tomatoes, garlic, and árbol chiles to toast.
- Toast the chiles for 30 seconds on each side and then remove from the pan.
- Toast the garlic for 2 more minutes then remove from the pan.
- Continue to toast the tomatoes until they blacken.
- Add all of the ingredients except the oil to your blender and blend for 1 minute.
- In the same frying pan that you toasted the tomatoes, garlic and chiles heat the 2 tablespoons of oil to high heat.
- Pour the blended salsa into the hot oil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer, then cook the salsa for 10 minutes.
Vinegar Cabbage Slaw
- Pour 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into the bowl with the cabbage.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Mix thoroughly so that all of the cabbage is coated with vinegar and salt.
- Set aside until you are ready to serve your tacos. Stir just before serving.
Garlic Shrimp
- If your shrimp come with the shells, remove the shells and discard.
- Devein the shrimp by making an incision lengthwise along the back of the shrimp and gently remove the black vein with the tip of a knife.
- Finely chop the garlic.
- Preheat a large frying pan to medium-hot. Add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute stirring 3 times so that the garlic doesn't burn.
- Add the shrimp to the pan and stir to coat the shrimp with butter.
- Cook the shrimp for about 6 minutes until just cooked through. Stir and turn the shrimp every minute. To check for doneness, cut a couple of shrimp in half. If the shrimp is a pinkish white throughout it is fully cooked. If there are still translucent spots the shrimp needs to be cooked more. Cook for 1 more minute and then check for doneness again.
Assembling the Tacos
- Warm the tortillas on a comal or griddle.
- On each corn tortilla, layer a bed of cabbage slaw, 3 shrimps and then a dollop of salsa on each shrimp.
- Serve 3 tacos per person.
When making the Arbol Chile Salsa can you leave the seeds in the Arbol Chiles to add more heat or just add more chiles without the seeds? Thanks