Cahuamanta

Ray wing simmered until the flesh combs off the cartilage in strands, which no other fish here does.

Fish, Shellfish. Not vegetarian — contains fish, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 1 kg ray or skate wing, on the cartilage
• 400 g raw prawns, shell on
• 2 litres water
• 4 guajillo chillies, soaked and drained
• 400 g tomatoes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 limes
• 1 white onion, finely chopped, to serve
• corn tortillas, as on their own page, to serve

Method

1. THE FLESH COMBS OFF THE CARTILAGE IN STRANDS, and no other fish on this site behaves like that. A ray wing is not built like a fillet: the muscle runs in long parallel fibres either side of a sheet of soft cartilage, and once it is cooked a fork drawn along it lifts the flesh away in neat strands, like combing. That is why this soup has shredded fish in it rather than chunks, and it is the whole character of the bowl. Cut into pieces first and simmered, it falls apart into shapeless flakes and the point is lost.
2. IT IS SIMMERED ON THE CARTILAGE AND COMBED AFTERWARDS. The cartilage holds the wing together while it cooks and gives the broth a noticeable body -- it is full of gelatine. Twenty-five minutes, then lifted out, cooled enough to handle, and combed. The cartilage is discarded at that point and not before.
3. RAY MUST BE FRESH OR IT SMELLS OF AMMONIA, and this is the one fish where that matters more than usual. Ray and skate break down into ammonia faster than most, and once the smell is there nothing removes it. A soak in water with the juice of two limes for twenty minutes before cooking deals with a faint trace; a strong smell means the fish should not be used.
4. THE PRAWNS GO IN AT THE END AND THE SHELLS GO IN EARLIER. Two minutes for the prawn bodies. But the shells, peeled off first, are dropped in with the ray and simmered the full twenty-five minutes and strained out -- a small amount of work that puts a good deal into the broth.
5. THE BROTH IS STRAINED AND THE FISH RETURNED, which keeps the bowl clean. After combing, the broth has fragments of cartilage and prawn shell in it. Through a sieve, back into the pot, and only then do the combed strands and the prawns go back.
6. The ray wing soaked in cold water with the juice of the 2 limes for 20 MINUTES, then rinsed. If it smells strongly of ammonia it is not fresh enough to use.
7. The prawns peeled, the SHELLS KEPT and the bodies refrigerated.
8. The oil heated in a large pot, the onion and garlic cooked 5 minutes, then the blended tomatoes and guajillos added with the oregano and bay. Cooked 10 minutes.
9. The water and salt added and brought to a simmer.
10. The ray wing added WHOLE, on the cartilage, with the PRAWN SHELLS. Simmered 25 MINUTES.
11. The wing lifted out onto a board and left until it can be handled.
12. A fork drawn ALONG the fibres to COMB the flesh off in strands, both sides. The cartilage discarded.
13. The broth STRAINED through a sieve into a clean pot and the shells discarded.
14. Brought back to a simmer, the combed strands returned, and the prawns added for 2 MINUTES.
15. Tasted and salted. Ladled into bowls with chopped onion and tortillas.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes