Shrimp Tixtihuil or Tastihuile Soup is a traditional food from the northwest of Mexico, mainly in Nayarit and Sinaloa, tasted in these regions is part of their gastronomic heritage.
We prepared it, we liked it and that’s why we want to share with you this soup thickened in corn with shrimp gruel, don’t miss it!
Ingredients
-
- 1 kilogram of shrimp
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 pasilla chiles (seedless)
- 1 dried chile de árbol (seedless)
- ½ red onion
- 1 ½ tomato
- ½ cup tortilla dough
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Cook the chiles, ¼ onion, garlic and tomato in 2 cups of water. Once cooked, mix them and add the tortilla dough to form a thick paste or atole.
- In a pot with 1 liter of boiling water, cook the shrimp, ¼ red onion, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 2 minutes.
- Remove the heads from 1 of the cooked shrimp and put them in the blender with 2 cups of the broth where you cooked them, blend for 1 minute.
- In a frying pan add 2 tablespoons of oil, pour the mixture of the atole or paste together with the mixture you made with the shrimp heads.
- With a wooden spoon, stir the thick broth that will form, add salt and pepper to taste and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, add the cooked shrimp, oregano and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Once this time has passed, let it cool for 2 minutes and enjoy your delicious shrimp Tixtihuil with bread or toast.
If you like this dish we recommend you to check out our shrimp soup recipes section.
Enjoy your meal and enjoy the traditional cuisine of Northwest Mexico, may the traditions never end.
Tips
- If you want a thicker or thinner paste or atole, add more or less tortilla dough according to your taste, we prefer a thicker paste.
- Cook the shrimp until they acquire a pink-orange color, remember not to cook them for more than 2 minutes in the first cooking.
- Serve the portions in a deep dish, the Tixtihuil can be served with lemon juice or any sauce of your preference. Many people enjoy it with tortilla and their favorite drink.
A little history about Tixtihuil
It is said that this dish was created by an indigenous group called Los Totorames, who inhabited the valley and the coast from the Piaxtla River to the Rio de las Cañas, which today are the municipalities of San Ignacio, Concordia, Maatlan, El Rosario and Escuinapa in Sinaloa to the Santiago River in present day Nayarit.
Its main owner was Chiametlán, today the town of Chametla in the municipality of Rosario in Sinaloa.
The shrimp Tixtihuil was considered a “dish for the gods”, it was consumed after long days of work to recover energy.
The totorames, who were also mecal lovers, used to calm hangovers with this dish because of its chili and lemon flavor.
Over the years, the preparation of Tastihuile Soup has become a tradition that is passed down from parents to children, preserving its traditional flavor as it was prepared centuries ago.
