Tallarines con Camarones

Shrimp with Tomatoes, Red Onions & Pasta

There is a style of Peruvian stir-fry with noodles called tallarines saltados, usually made with beef or shrimp and Chinese egg noodles or Italian pasta. It’s classic chifa, or Peruvian-Chinese cooking featuring a mix of local ingredients with foods that Europeans brought to the Americas. My version is not a true saltado, but more like a shrimp and pasta stew flavored with my stir-fry sauce. Instead of searing the ingredients, I cook them down more slowly, like an aderezo, so the pasta stays very moist. And with lower heat, you can make more servings at the same time, and use butter, which is so good with shrimp.

Instead of only shrimp, you could also make this like a cioppino with mixed seafood—mussels, shrimp, and firm white-fleshed fish—whatever you have. We make our own pastas for the restaurant, but at home, I use really good store-bought pasta. Because the pasta goes back into the stew pot, be sure to cook it no more than al dente on its own. For a really nice presentation, I butterfly jumbo shrimp (remove the skin but leave the tail attached), but you can use smaller shrimp and simply peel them. If you don’t have ají amarillo butter already made, mix together 4 tablespoons of room temperature unsalted butter and 1½ teaspoons (or a little more, for a spicier flavor) of ají amarillo paste.

• About 12 ounces good-quality linguine, fettuccine, or other dried long pasta
• Kosher salt, for cooking the pasta
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ medium red onion, coarsely chopped into ½-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon pureed garlic (page 37) or finely minced garlic
• 2 medium ripe heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes, or 4 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ cup homemade fish or chicken stock (page 40) or low-sodium store-bought chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons ají amarillo butter (page 38)
• 1½ pounds peeled and deveined shrimp with tails intact, butterflied if extra-large (see page 123)
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce, preferably Yamasa
• 4 tablespoons Saltado Sauce (page 138)
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 3 or 4 sprigs fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 small wedge Parmesan, for garnish

1 Cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse the pasta under cold running water until cool. Let drain in the colander.

2 Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat until hot, a good 2 minutes. Add the onions and sauté until they begin to soften and are nicely browned along the edges, a good 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sauté another minute, then stir in the tomatoes and bay leaf. Gently push the aderezo (flavorings) back and forth on the bottom of the pan with the spoon until the tomatoes have slightly softened, a minute or two more, then add the stock.

3 When the stock is bubbling hot, add the butter, a few chunks at a time, and stir to emulsify the sauce. When all of the butter has melted, add the shrimp and sauté until the flesh just begins to turn white all over, usually no more than 90 seconds for jumbo shrimp (less if the shrimp are smaller). Drizzle the soy and saltado sauces along the edges of the wok or pan, not on top of the stir-fry ingredients. You should smell them caramelizing, then toss the pasta in the sauce.

4 Divide the pasta and sauce among four bowls, sprinkle the scallions and cilantro over the pasta, and shave a little Parmesan on top. Serve right away.