Mexico has a great variety of food styles based on its many regions. I am always excited to try something new whenever I travel outside the US. On one of my visits to Los Cabos, I had the pleasure of eating at Casa Don Rodrigo, where I had their version of a Seafood Molcajete. It was fantastic. Check here for my blog post on Don Rodrigo and my visit to Cabo! I was so impressed with the dish, I had to make my version of the Best Seafood Molcajete Ever!
The Seafood Molcajete at Casa Don Rodrigo had a variety of seafood served in a blazing hot molcajete. In case you are not familiar, a molcajete is a granite mortar and pestle. Sometimes, in our local Mexican restaurants, guacamole is prepared and served tableside in a molcajete. You also might find Queso Fundido served in a molcajete. I was so impressed with the dish that I had to make my own version. My recipe includes the best of Queso Fundido and Grilled Seafood!
What Makes This Recipe So Great?
Grilling seafood over hot charcoal can’t be beat. The only potential issue is that the individual in charge of the grill (notice I didn’t say man? I know of many women who are experts on the grill and know how to treat seafood appropriately.) The trick is to cook each type of seafood individually. Some seafood will cook faster than others. All will cook fast. Your seafood will be like shoe leather if cooked too long. You need to be forever vigilant! No sneaking away to get a beer!
You need a great salsa to match your well-grilled seafood. You could use your favorite store-bought salsa. With a very impressive seafood dish, you should make your own salsa. Included in our post is the perfect recipe for a tomatillo-based salsa.
This is one recipe that you will want to make time and time again. I know some culinary traditions do not mix cheese and seafood. You will notice that many dishes in Mexican cuisine mix cheese with seafood that are incredibly tasty, like seafood enchiladas, tacos gobernador, or shrimp quesadillas.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please leave your comments below, and as always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!
Seafood Molcajete
2
servings45
minutes10
minutes20
minutesBasically the best seafood queso fundido ever!!
Ingredients
1/4 lb Octopus
1/4 lb Scallops
1/2 lb Jumbo shrimp (cleaned and deveined)
2 cups Shredded Oaxaca cheese
1/4 cup Shredded/grated Cotija cheese
- Tomatillo Salsa
10 small Tomatillos – leave whole, pull off husks
1 White onion – rough cut
2 Fresh Poblano chiles
3 Garlic cloves – leave the skin on
2 Dry Guajillo chile pods – remove seeds
2 Cups Water
- Seasoning
3 Tbl Smoked paprika
3 tsp Salt
4 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp White pepper
3 tsp Cayenne
1 Tbl Chile powder
1 tsp Sugar
- Plating
2 Stalks Green onions
1 Cup Salsa – on the side
Optional: Grilled jalapenos
Directions
- Put the molcajete on a baking sheet in the oven/grill over high indirect heat. Pull it out when you have completed grilling the seafood.
- Treat the Seafood
- Place seasoning in a bowl. Mix well. Set aside.
- Make sure all your seafood is dry so you can get a good char on them.
- Place all seafood in a large bowl. Mix well. Drizzle a little neutral oil in the bowl. Add seasoning to the bowl with the seafood and mix well. Let the seafood rest for 15 minutes. Letting seafood rest allows the flavors of the seasoning to meld and the salt to penetrate.
- Grilling the Seafood
- Heat your grill to high, or use a cast-iron pan on your stove if a grill is not available. If using a cast-iron pan on your stove, add a tablespoon of neutral oil.
- Grill the seafood and green onion. It is very important that you grill each seafood item separately, as they will cook at different times. Using a grill pan makes the grilling process much easier. Do not overcook!
- Shrimp is done when they start to turn pink
- Octopus is done when it is fork-tender with an internal temperature of about 150°
- Scallops are done when they are opaque and have a slight char cooking about 2 minutes per side.
- Leave the grilled seafood slightly undercooked. They will finish cooking in the molcajete.
- Assemble the Molcajete
- Remove the molcajete carefully off the grill. It will be EXTREMELY HOT!
- Add salsa 1/4 up the side of your molcajete. Adjust the amount of salsa added to your molcajete depending on its size and how “saucy” you want your dish. Layer a small amount of the Oaxaca and Cotija cheese next. .
- Cut your octopus into bite-sized chunks. Place the seafood in the molcajete
- Top off your molcajete with an abundance of cheese and let your dish set aside for about 5 minutes until the cheese melts.
- Finish plating with the grilled green onion and maybe a grilled jalapeno!
- Enjoy!
- Making the Salsa – Roasting the Veggies
- Rough cut the tomatillos and onions. Place them on a baking tray. Place the garlic on the tray. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and sprinkle some salt on the veggies. Add poblanos to the tray.
- NOTE: After making the recipe additional times, I feel its best not to cut the tomatillos up. The reason is to retain all the great flavors and juices inside the tomatillos so they don’t leak out onto the tray.
- Roast at 400° for 20 minutes
- 1/2 way through, turn and flip over the poblanos
- When done, pull veggies out of the oven and set them aside. Peel the roasted garlic. Set aside. Place poblanos in a zip-lock bag to steam for about 10 minutes. After poblanos have steamed, peel the skins. They should peel easily after steaming.
- Cut the tops off the poblanos and remove the seeds. Set aside.
- Making the Tomatillo Salsa
- Take the two guajillo chiles, cut off the top, and shake out all the seeds. Put the chiles in a saucepan half-filled with water.
- Simmer over medium heat until chiles soften; approximately 10 minutes.
- Place garlic, onions, poblanos, tomatillos, and softened guajillo in a blender and blend until you get the consistency you prefer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- At this point, the salsa is good to go. Bright and fresh salsa is good. Another option is to cook the salsa for about 20 minutes over a low-medium heat. Both methods of preparation will provide awesome results with just a little difference in taste. Add a portion of the fresh salsa to some heat and decide which method you prefer.
Did you make this recipe?
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