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Home » Fish » Aguachile Negro

Aguachile Negro

By Hank Shaw on August 16, 2021 - 3 Comments

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5 from 5 votes
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Mexican aguachile is something of a hybrid between sashimi and ceviche, although the closest thing to it is really Peruvian tiradito, but that is a lesser known dish. And while aguachile is normally green (I have a recipe for that here), this is a black aguachile: aguachile negro.

A plate full of aguachile negro
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

There are a few ways to make aguachile negro, some involving charred onions, some using a spice mix called recado negro, but most, including this recipe, use soy sauce and Maggi.

Both sound like not-so-Mexican ingredients, and, strictly speaking, they’re not. But both sauces have been used in Mexican cooking for generations. Soy, especially, came with Asian immigrants as far back as the Spanish galleon days.

It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but aguachile is essentially a ceviche served immediately, so the seafood is still very much raw. You’ll definitely want to brush up on your raw seafood safety (I have an article that covers the basics here), but suffice to say that most seafoods need to be pre-frozen to kill potential parasites.

This is enormously important with shrimp, which is the normal seafood used in aguachile negro and its other versions, because truly raw, never-frozen shrimp can carry parasites that will give you liver flukes. No bueno.

I used some pretty scallops here that I got from Togue over at Downeast Dayboat, and they are pretty damn spectacular. Sweet, big and meaty. Any nice scallop will do, as will the aforementioned thawed shrimp, or fresh clams or oysters. Fish is common, too, especially tuna and the various jacks like yellowtail. Tuna especially are almost never parasitized, so they are safe to eat never frozen.

Some advice for inlanders: Do this with fish, but be sure to freeze it at -4°F for a week first. Or use cooked crawfish tails. Or just buy seafood from a really good market.

Aguachile negro can be as picante as you want it, both by adding chiles to the sauce itself, and by sprinkling dried chiltepin chiles over the top. My advice is to go with the chiltepins or chile pequins if you can get them — Latin markets almost always have them — and skip the chiles in the sauce. But either way works.

Lime-soaked onions, cooling cucumbers, avocado, and cilantro round things out. The result is a barrage of strong flavors: Salty-savory aguachile negro sauce, creamy-meaty raw seafood, lush avocado, zippy pickled onions and that picoso swat of the chiles.

A serving of aguachile negro on a tostada
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Normally aguachile negro is served on tostadas, and that’s how I recommend it. All by itself is nice, too, but you will find yourself looking for the tortilla chips to offset the flavor bombs.

Make your aguachile and eat it. It does not store well.

If you want to do a Mexican seafood feast, serve your aguachile negro as the first course, then caldo de camaron as a soup, then lobster tacos.

Closeup of aguachile negro
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5 from 5 votes

Aguachile Negro

This is a variation on the classic Mexican aguachile, which has a green sauce. I use scallops here, but shrimp, fish, clams or oysters would all be good options.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time0 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, lunch
Cuisine: Mexican
Diet: Low Fat
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 214kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 1 white onion, quartered
  • 1 clove garlic, unpeeled
  • 1 red onion, sliced thin
  • 2/3 cup lime juice, divided
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons Maggi seasoning
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 black garlic cloves (optional)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 pound scallops
  • 1 English cucumber, sliced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • Chiltepin chiles, to taste

Instructions

  • Heat a comal or griddle or cast iron skillet over high heat. When its hot, char the onion and the garlic clove well. When both cut sides of the onion quarters are blackened, roughly chop and put unto a blender. Peel the garlic and put the clove in the blender.
  • While the onion is charring, mix in some salt with the sliced red onion and toss with about 1/4 cup of the lime juice. Let this sit in a bowl until you are ready to serve. Doing this quick pickles the onion and removes any sulfur bite to it.
  • Add the rest of the lime juice, Maggi, soy, about 1 teaspoon black pepper, the black garlic cloves, if using, and the water to the blender and puree everything.
  • Toss the scallops and cucumber with the sauce and put some on everyone's plates. Add the avocado, the red onions, the cilantro and crushed chiltepin chiles. Serve at once.

Notes

You can find black garlic in some supermarkets, Trader joe's tends to carry it, or you can buy black garlic online. Or just skip it. 

Keys to Success

  • Use high quality seafood. Sushi grade. Make sure you read the headnotes for food safety issues with raw seafood.
  • If you can't find the dried chiltepin or chile pequins, you can use any crushed hot pepper, or you can add serranos or some other fresh hot chile to the blender. 
  • Serve this with tostadas or tortilla chips ideally, but you could also eat it by itself. 
  • Really blacken the cut sides of the quartered onion. It makes a difference in flavor. 
  • If you happen to have Yucatecan recado negro around, unlikely but possible, add a couple spoonfuls of that to the blender. You'll thank me later. 

Nutrition

Calories: 214kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 1208mg | Potassium: 753mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 197IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg
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Filed Under: Appetizers and Snacks, Featured, Fish, Mexican, Recipe

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for WagWag says

    October 24, 2021 at 8:23 am

    Looks like a heat recipe, and I’m planning to make it tonight. One note— Maggi sauce is mad from wheat, and therefore thee recipe is NOT gluten free. My son has celiac so I will be substituting tamari and a bit of worchester sauce.

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      October 25, 2021 at 7:49 am

      Wag: Oh! Thank you for that. I didn’t know. I’ll remove that tag off the recipe. Thanks.

      Reply
  2. Avatar for michellemichelle says

    August 18, 2021 at 8:21 pm

    i love your new “directions” style. its much clearer than some in the past. Have you changed editors or your philosophy on recipes?

    Reply

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Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

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