Enchilado de Camarones: Cuban Shrimp and Seafood Creole

Enchilado de camarones is Cuban shrimp creole: shrimp cooked fast and folded into a simmered sauce of sofrito, fresh tomato, and a splash of dry wine, finished with cilantro over white rice. Add split spiny lobster tails and sea scallops and it becomes enchilado de mariscos, the whole-haul version that shows up when somebody in the family went diving.

And despite the name, there is no chile in it. That surprise is the whole story of the word.

Enchilado Does Not Mean Spicy

Enchilado translates almost literally as "chile'd," and the dish contains no chile. In Cuban Spanish the word describes anything simmered in a tomato and sofrito sauce, what an American menu would call creole. It is the most famous false friend in Cuban cooking, and we covered why in is Cuban food spicy: the answer is no, and enchilado is exhibit A.

The heat, as always in a Cuban kitchen, is added at the table. A few dashes of El Havanero over your own plate, not into the family's pot.

The Sauce Is the Dish

Everything rides on the base. Onion, peppers, and celery cooked down in butter and olive oil, then garlic, then peeled fresh tomatoes with cumin, a splash of dry white wine, and a squeeze of lemon, simmered about fifteen minutes until it tastes like more than the sum of that list.

Two tricks make ours taste like it came off a Cuban stove. First, a little diced Spanish chorizo fried until the oil turns orange; that oil goes into the pot and colors the whole dish. Second, the seafood is cooked in quick batches on its own and only meets the sauce for the last two or three minutes, so nothing turns to rubber while the flavors come together.

The Lobster Version

Enchilado de langosta uses spiny lobster, the clawless, warm-water lobster that Cubans and Floridians actually catch. The tails are split so the sauce reaches the meat, cooked quickly on their own, and folded into the sauce at the end with everything else. In South Florida the timing writes itself: the regular spiny lobster season opens in early August, and this is one of the best things to do with a tail that made it home.

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6 over rice.

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 spiny lobster tails, split lengthwise (or 4 small tails, quartered)
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the seafood
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped (white, red, or both)
• 1 green bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or one 15 oz can whole tomatoes, crushed)
• 1/4 cup tomato juice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 links Spanish chorizo, diced (optional, and worth it)
• 1/2 lb sea scallops
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• Barbaro Mojo El Havanero, at the table (or Jalabáo for the milder half)

How to Make Enchilado de Camarones

1. Build the sofrito. Melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat and cook the onion, peppers, and celery until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic for the last minute.
2. Simmer the sauce. Add the tomatoes, cumin, wine, water, tomato juice, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, drop the heat, and simmer uncovered about 15 minutes.
3. Fry the chorizo. While the sauce simmers, fry the diced chorizo in a separate pan until the oil turns orange. Set the chorizo and its oil aside.
4. Cook the seafood in batches. In the chorizo pan with a little more oil, saute the lobster pieces first until just cooked, then the shrimp until pink and curled into a loose C, then the scallops. Nothing gets more than a few minutes.
5. Bring it together. Fold the seafood, chorizo, and that orange oil into the sauce and simmer two or three minutes only, just to marry the flavors.
6. Finish. Off the heat, stir in most of the cilantro. Taste for salt.
7. Serve. Over white rice, with the rest of the cilantro on top and the hot sauce on the table.

Wine, Beer, or Neither

Dry white wine is what we use. Plenty of Cuban kitchens reach for vino seco, the salty Cuban cooking wine from the bodega shelf; if you use it, hold back on added salt. Either way the sauce wants a little acid and depth, and the lemon at the end sharpens it.

Not the Same as Louisiana Shrimp Creole

They are cousins, not twins, and celery is not the dividing line: our version has it too. Louisiana shrimp creole often starts with a roux and carries cayenne heat in the pot. The Cuban enchilado has no roux and no chile: its backbone is the same sofrito that starts most Cuban dishes, and the heat is a bottle on the table, not a spice in the pan.

What to Serve With It

White rice is not optional; the sauce is the point and the rice is what carries it. Tostones or Cuban bread for dragging through the pan, a simple avocado salad on the side. If your table wants more seafood in the same spirit, the Cuban shrimp boil is the outdoor cousin of this pot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is enchilado de camarones?

Cuban shrimp creole: shrimp cooked fast and folded into a simmered sauce of sofrito, fresh tomato, dry wine, and cumin, finished with cilantro and served over white rice. With lobster and scallops added it becomes enchilado de mariscos.

Is enchilado de camarones spicy?

No. Enchilado means "chile'd" but in Cuban Spanish it describes a tomato and sofrito sauce, not heat. The traditional dish contains no chile at all; hot sauce is added at the table by each person.

What kind of lobster goes in enchilado de langosta?

Spiny lobster, the clawless warm-water lobster caught in Cuba and Florida. The tails are split lengthwise so the sauce reaches the meat, cooked quickly, and folded into the sauce for the final few minutes. Florida's regular season opens in early August.

How is it different from Louisiana shrimp creole?

Both start with onion, pepper, and celery, so the vegetables are not the difference. Louisiana shrimp creole often starts with a roux and cooks cayenne heat into the pot. Cuban enchilado has no roux and no chile; the heat comes from hot sauce at the table.

Wine or beer in enchilado?

Dry white wine is the classic, and many Cuban kitchens use vino seco, the salted Cuban cooking wine; if you do, add less salt. The sauce wants a little acid and depth, and a squeeze of lemon at the end finishes the job.

How long do the shrimp cook?

A few minutes in a hot pan, until pink and curled into a loose C, then only two or three more minutes in the sauce to marry the flavors. They keep cooking in the hot sauce off the heat, so err on the early side.

What do you serve with enchilado de camarones?

White rice, always, plus tostones or Cuban bread for the sauce, and a simple avocado or tomato salad. It reheats gently, so leftovers over rice the next day are part of the tradition.

What hot sauce goes with it?

A citrus-forward Cuban sauce rather than a vinegar-heavy one, since the sauce is already bright with tomato and lime. El Havanero, 9 out of 10 on the Barbaro Mojo Cuban heat scale, is the classic pairing; Jalabáo at 3 out of 10 suits the milder half of the table.