Meatballs don't always have to be meat. Along the Mexican coast, you can find brighter variations of meatballs made with ground fish and shrimp that shatter your expectations of what meatballs can be.
In Playas de Tijuana, where the border wall delimits the westernmost district of Tijuana from Imperial Beach and San Diego, you can find a stand dedicated to shrimp dumplings. At Albóndigas de Camarón Las Originales, chef and owner Miguelina Carrillo, originally from Sinaloa, serves her shrimp meatballs in broth or crispy grilled with melted cheese stuffed in tortillas.
Writer Paola Briseño-González shapes a shrimp meatball while preparing her broth.
You can add as many tablespoons of salsa macha, chopped cabbage, and thinly sliced red onion as you like. Hit it with a squeeze of the kind of juicy, ripe yellow limes you find all over Mexico for some of the best street food you've ever had.
In Punta Mita, at a small gas station restaurant called Makai located in front of “La Lancha,” one of the last remaining public beaches in Nayarit, chef Sebastián Renner starts with incredibly airy and tender shrimp balls.
He then sears them until golden brown in spots and serves them over a velvety romesco made with dried chiles. They are drizzled with a variation of salsa macha called salsa mulata, where chiles and walnuts are finely ground with small dried shrimp, adding a layer of intense umami to the dish.
Inspired by these sublime coastal shots, I make a version that turns meatballs into a weeknight dinner that takes less than an hour to prepare. The secret? Some shrimp are finely chopped into a paste with onion and garlic to act as a binder when mixed with large chunks of shrimp, offering a variety of tender, fluffy and springy textures.
Paola Briseño-González with her shrimp meatballs.
Gently add the meatballs to the tomato broth.
The breadcrumbs help the meatballs retain moisture so they are tender, and the cilantro adds fresh, herbaceous flavors.
The breadcrumbs combined with the other ingredients help the meatballs retain moisture. There is a lot of cilantro in the mix to give it fresh, herbaceous flavors.
I stopped browning the meatballs and poached them in a Sungold tomato broth. It's not peak tomato season, but Sungold and cherry tomatoes are there for you with their reliable concentrated flavor that some of the big tomatoes still lack this late in the season.
Do you have other tender vegetables on hand? How about some green beans and peas? Throw them in, they will stay tender and enhance the spring flavors.
When the vegetables are tender, gently poach the meatballs in the broth for just a few minutes, adding all their flavor to the soup. Top with cabbage, cilantro, onion and a squeeze of lime. Then, make some guacamole on the side with warm corn tortillas to dip in the broth.
Spring is calling.
The recipe
Time 55 minutes (plus 30 minutes rest)
Yields Serves 4 to 6 servings
