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Scallops With Red Aguachile and Pickled Onions

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Photograph by Joshua Kissi, food styling by Roscoe Betsill, prop styling by Amy Wilson

Pretend you’re on the coast—and not your house in the dead of winter—with this bright and spicy aguachile. This recipe for aguachile, which translates to “chile water,” gets its kick from fresh and dried chiles, lime juice, hot sauce, and a surprise secret ingredient: Worcestershire sauce. You’ll get a thin but powerful sauce that adds brightness and heat to raw scallops.

This recipe was adapted from ‘The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food.’

Recipe information

  • Yield

    8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

Pickled onions

1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
⅓ cup fresh lime juice
2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano (optional)

Aguachile and assembly

2 dried chiles de árbol, stems and seeds removed
4 Fresno chiles, stems and seeds removed, coarsely chopped
½ cup fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. hot sauce (preferably Tapatío)
Kosher salt
16 sea scallops, side muscle removed
1 medium English hothouse cucumber, thinly sliced
Cilantro with tender stems and saltine crackers (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Pickled onions

    Step 1

    Combine onion, lime juice, and oregano in a small bowl and toss to combine, squeezing onion gently with your hands to soften. Cover and chill until ready to use.

  2. Aguachile and assembly

    Step 2

    Toast chiles de árbol in a dry small skillet over medium heat, shaking pan often, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a blender and let cool slightly.

    Step 3

    Add Fresno chiles, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to blender and purée until smooth; season aguachile with salt.

    Step 4

    Thinly slice scallops into thirds crosswise to make thin rounds. Divide among shallow bowls or arrange on a platter and season with salt. Spoon aguachile over and around scallops. Top with cucumber, pickled onions, and cilantro. Serve with crackers alongside.

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