Dried-prawn fritters in romeritos: a Lenten recipe

What is it?

Dried-prawn fritters are one of the most distinctive Lenten and Christmas dishes of central Mexican cooking. They consist of small crisp discs made with ground dried prawn (without head or legs), beaten egg, flour or breadcrumbs, battered and fried in hot oil. They are usually dipped in a sauce of romeritos with red or Pueblan mole, where they absorb the flavours and rehydrate, forming one of the most identity-defining dishes of the Lenten menu and of the Christmas Eve supper in Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Hidalgo and Morelos. Their flavour combines the intense umami of the dried prawn with the complexity of the mole, balanced by the herbal freshness of the romeritos. It is a dish of deep Mexican family roots.

Origin and history

Dried-prawn fritters arose in colonial Mexican cooking as a creative solution to comply with Catholic abstinence from red meat during Lent and vigil. Larousse Cocina notes that dried prawn, especially from Oaxaca and Veracruz, has been a Mexican commercial product since the pre-Hispanic period, when coastal peoples exchanged it with altiplano regions for salt, cacao and other products. Bernardino de Sahagún documented the pre-Hispanic trade in dried prawn in the Florentine Codex. After the conquest, the New Spanish convents developed the fritters as a technique to make prawn the star of a substantial dish compatible with abstinence. Mexico Desconocido records that the romeritos-mole-fritters combination was consolidated in the nineteenth century as the canonical Lenten recipe. Mexican Lenten cuisine was recognised in 2010 by UNESCO as part of intangible cultural heritage when traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed.

Characteristic ingredients

The essential ingredients are: dried prawn (preferably Oaxacan, medium-sized, without head or legs, well cleaned), fresh eggs (whites separated from yolks), wheat flour or breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. The dried prawn is dry-ground to a coarse powder in a molcajete, blender or food processor. The whites are beaten to stiff peaks; the yolks are folded in gently with a spoon or spatula. The flour or breadcrumbs and the ground prawn are mixed into the beaten egg, forming a thick but light paste. Small discs 4-6 cm across are formed with a spoon and fried in hot oil until golden on both sides, drained on absorbent paper. The romeritos sauce: romeritos boiled in water with salt and bicarbonate (which keeps the green colour), drained; red or Pueblan mole dissolved in dried-prawn broth (made by boiling the heads and shells); diced cooked potato; the fritters are added at the end and cooked for 10-15 minutes in the sauce to rehydrate and bring the flavours together. It is served hot with tortillas.

Cultural significance

Dried-prawn fritters in romeritos are one of the most identity-defining dishes of the Lenten and Christmas menu of central Mexico, present in any Mexican home from February to April and in the days before Christmas Eve. The preparation is a family ritual: mothers and grandmothers spend hours grinding prawn, beating whites and shaping fritters, passing the technique on to the new generations. The Mexican dried-prawn economy is concentrated on the coasts of Sinaloa, Sonora, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Tabasco, where thousands of artisanal fishers sun-dry prawn following ancestral techniques. The markets of Mexico City such as La Viga, La Merced and Sonora sell tonnes of Oaxacan dried prawn during December and Lent, with prices that climb in these seasons because of high demand. Traditional Mexican cuisine was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010. Dried-prawn fritters are an example of the sophistication of Mexican Lenten cuisine and of the ingenious use of dried ingredients.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between dried-prawn fritters and fresh-prawn fritters?

Dried-prawn fritters use ground Oaxacan dried prawn, much more concentrated in umami, salty and deep flavour, ideal for Lenten saucy dishes. Fresh-prawn fritters use peeled and chopped prawn, with a more delicate, mild flavour, used in coastal dishes in Veracruz and Sinaloa. The dried ones are typical of central Mexico; the fresh of the coasts.

What do dried-prawn fritters in romeritos taste like?

They taste mainly of mole (red or Pueblan) with its complexity of toasted chillies, spices and moderate sweetness, contrasted by the intense, salty umami flavour of dried prawn concentrated in the fritters. The romeritos bring herbal freshness; the potatoes soften it. The fritters, rehydrated in the sauce, become fluffy inside and soak up all the flavour of the mole. Complex, deep, festive.

How are prawn fritters served?

They are served hot as a side in an earthenware dish with the romeritos and mole, during the Christmas Eve supper (24 December) or as a main course on Fridays in Lent. They are accompanied by maize tortillas and white or red rice. Each portion includes 2-3 fritters with romeritos and mole. The leftovers are used the next day, improving in flavour after resting.

Where do prawn fritters come from?

They originate in seventeenth-eighteenth-century colonial New Spanish convent cooking, created as a creative solution to Lenten abstinence. Dried prawn as an ingredient has a pre-Hispanic origin (coast-altiplano trade documented by Sahagún). The fritters with romeritos and mole were consolidated as a canonical Lenten and Christmas dish in the nineteenth century in central Mexico, today part of intangible cultural heritage.