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Bull Taco made the very best shrimp tacos and shrimp burritos I've ever had.
Unfortunately, Bull Taco started in Oceanside, CA, expanded their branches too quickly, and eventually shuttered every location. No more glorious shrimp-only burritos for me.
Before they closed their last location, I asked the guy making my shrimp burrito what they put on the shrimp to make them taste so darn good. He shrugged me off with his eyebrow and a nonplussed "garlic, chili powder, oil, you know... nothing special". He was wrong, and I still haven't recaptured the Bull Taco magic. On my journey towards recreating the perfect shrimp-only burrito at home, I'll happy try just about any promising recipe for camarones.
This chipotle shrimp recipe from Milk Street: the New Home Cooking won the most recent Idea Post vote, aligning perfectly with my quest. These shrimp are not the answer, but they are still quite good and very very easy.
First, you'll blitz an onion and some garlic in your food processor, which is a "trick" I learned from Revolutionary Recipes while making their bolognese recipe (which will appear on this blog someday, because it's exceptionally delicious). We needed the food processor here for the chipotle peppers anyway, so why spend the time and tears chopping an onion and getting garlic smell all over your hands?
Once the onion and garlic are "minced", we'll use the food processor (no rinse out required) to blend our 4 chipotle peppers, 4 tomatoes, and a little salt. Please note that the heat in the chipotle sauce builds over time and this sauce will likely be too spicy for people who struggle with spicy foods. Feel free to reduce the number of chile peppers accordingly.
With that brief prep work out of the way, we start our extra-large shrimp towards perfectly cooked with a super brief flash pan-fry. This step is not meant to cook the shrimp, but rather puts a little color on them and gets them close enough to cooked that the residual heat in the sauce will finish them off right before serving. We do this step in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan, and then toss the par-cooked shrimp with a little lime juice.
Next, we sweat the onions and garlic for a few minutes, add a bit of dried oregano, cook briefly, then deglaze the pan with some white wine (and any accumulated shrimp juices). After the wine has evaporated, add the chipotle-tomato mixture and cook at a rapid simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens somewhat. This whole process will take less than 20 minutes.
While the sauce simmers and the shrimp finishes cooking, you can prep all the accoutrements you might want. Depending on you and the people you're feeding, this might look like warmed tortillas, sliced avocados, sour cream or cream, shredded cabbage, and more lime wedges.
Finally, all that remains is adding the shrimp to the sauce, stirring gently but quickly to envelop, then covering and letting the shrimp sit to finish cooking in the residual heat. Once roughly 2-4 minutes elapse, your chipotle shrimp will be juicy, plump, fully cooked and full of flavor. Pump up the flavor with a little more lime juice and chopped cilantro, and you're ready to eat.
Slightly modified from Milk Street Cooking
Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion quartered
- 3 garlic cloves
- 4 (1¼ pounds) vine-ripened tomatoes quartered
- 4 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce including sauce clinging to them
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1½ pounds extra-large raw shrimp peeled, deveined, tails removed and patted dry
- 4 tablespoons lime juice divided
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup dry white wine (vermouth will work in a pinch)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
For serving
- 8 6-inch corn (or flour) tortillas warmed
- avocado sliced into thin wedges
- cabbage julienned
- sour cream
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Remove the outer skin, then roughly chop the onion and add to a food processor bowl. Remove the garlic skins and ends, then add the naked cloves to the food processor bowl. Run the food processor at medium high speed until onion and garlic become basically minced, about 1 minute. Set aside in a medium bowl.
- Remove the stem and core of the tomatoes, then quarter them. In the same (now empty) food processor bowl, pulse the quartered tomatoes, chipotle chilies (and their sauce), and ¾ teaspoon kosher salt until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a deep 14-inch skillet for which you have a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat until the oil begins to shimmer. Add half of the shrimp and cook, stirring gently but frequently, until golden on both sides, about 1-2 minutes. [The shrimp will not be 100% fully cooked through at this point.] Transfer the shrimp to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining half of the shrimp, adding them to the medium bowl when they've become golden. Toss the par-cooked shrimp with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. Set aside.
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the "minced" onion and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes. Until slighly softened. Add the oregano and cook another minute, at which point the onion should be just beginning to brown. Stir in the wine and any accumulated shrimp juice from the large bowl. Continue cooking the onion mixture until all liquid has nearly evaporated. Pour in the processed chipotle tomato mixture and simmer, stirring, until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 12-14 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat, then quickly (but gently) stir in the shrimp, cover, and let sit until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Serve immediately with warmed corn or flour tortillas, cabbage ribbons, avocado wedges, sour cream, and lime wedges.
