6cupsshrimp stock,or fish or crab stock, or clam juice
1/2poundRoma roma tomatoes,or 1 cup crushed tomatoes
2tablespoonsolive oil
1/2white onion,minced
1ancho chile,stemmed, seeded and rehydrated
Salt
Lime juice and Mexican oregano, for garnish
Instructions
SHRIMP BALLS
Shell the shrimp and save the shells for the stock. Either grind the shrimp coarsely in a meat grinder, pulse in a food processor, or chop them fine. I prefer the meat grinder.
Mix all the ingredients together well in a bowl. It might be loose at first, but give it 20 minutes in the fridge before you add more masa harina. You will need to be able to form balls of this mix, but since masa takes time to absorb moisture, you won't know if it's too loose immediately.
Once you're good with the mix, make it into balls. Your choice on size. I like to go with a 1/4 cup and make them large, but a tablespoon is also a nice size.
SAUCE
While the shrimp ball mixture is hydrating in the fridge, make the sauce. Start by covering the shells with 6 cups of water, bring it to a simmer and add salt to taste. Let this cook gently while you make the shrimp balls. Once the shells have simmered 20 to 30 minutes (all this can be done ahead), strain it and set it aside.
While the stock is simmering, saute the onion in the olive oil until it's soft, but not browned. Add this to a blender.
Add the ancho chile, the tomato, salt and some of the stock to the blender and puree. Add the rest of the stock and mix well. Adjust the salt.
TO FINISH
Bring the sauce to a simmer and gently drop in the shrimp balls. Let them simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Add lime juice to taste, and garnish with Mexican oregano or cilantro.
Notes
Keep in mind this recipe works with fish, too.
Keys to Success
Bonus Step: Char the onion and the tomatoes on a griddle until blackened, then puree. This is a nice step I do often. If you do this, skip the olive oil.
You can add garlic to the sauce if you want. Or you can make it hotter by using other dried chiles, like guajillo, pasilla or by adding a few arbol chiles to the mix.
If your blender isn't fantastic, you might want to push the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any stray bits of seed or skin from the chiles, which are indigestible.