Tacos de caguamanta
Tacos de caguamanta are northwest Mexican seafood tacos filled with stingray, and often shrimp, stewed in a tomato and chile broth, a taco form of the caguamanta stew of Sonora and Sinaloa.
Name and history
The name is a contraction of caguama, a sea turtle, and manta, the ray, the two animals the stew was originally built on. Sea turtles became protected, and the recipe shifted to ray, with shrimp or other seafood in some versions. El Imparcial of Hermosillo notes that sea turtles have been listed as endangered since 1978 and that a 2012 Mexican norm prohibits their capture, so the original recipe survives only illegally.
The usual origin story, credited by English-language Wikipedia to chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, places the dish in Ciudad Obregón in southern Sonora at the end of the nineteenth century, with a rival theory pointing to Santa Rosalía in Baja California Sur. From Sonora it spread to Los Mochis and Mazatlán in Sinaloa, along the coasts of Nayarit and Jalisco, and up the Baja California peninsula, where it is especially popular in Tijuana.
Preparation
Caguamanta is first of all a stew. The broth is built on tomato, chile, carrot and plenty of celery, seasoned with oregano, cumin and garlic, according to El Imparcial. Luz Noticias, describing the Mazatlán version, adds shrimp and octopus to the ray and tuna fin and lists peas and onion among the vegetables, with piquín chile for heat. Sonoran cooks do not always include shrimp; Sinaloan cooks generally do.
For tacos, the seafood is lifted from the pot with some of its sauce and spooned onto corn tortillas, then finished with shredded cabbage, red onion and a salsa of chile de árbol.
Serving customs
Stands usually offer caguamanta both as a bowl of stew and as tacos, and customers often order tacos with a cup of broth on the side. The broth served on its own is called caldo bichi, from a Yaqui word meaning naked, and El Imparcial notes it is called jugo when it carries a little meat and, in some places, chuqui when shrimp are added. Like many Mexican seafood broths, caguamanta has a popular reputation as a cure for a hangover.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 600 g skinless ray wings or another firm white fish such as shark or monkfish, cut into strips
- 250 g small peeled shrimp (optional)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 white onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 carrot, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tomatoes, blended
- 2 guajillo chiles, soaked and blended with the tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 liter fish or shrimp stock
- Salt
- 16 corn tortillas
- Finely shredded cabbage, sliced red onion, lime wedges
- Chile de árbol salsa
Steps
- Heat the oil in a pot and soften the onion, celery and carrot for 8 minutes. Add garlic, oregano and cumin and cook 1 minute.
- Add the tomato and chile purée and fry until it darkens, about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the stock, season and simmer 15 minutes.
- Add the ray and simmer gently until it flakes, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the shrimp for the last 3 minutes.
- Lift out the seafood with a slotted spoon, shred the ray lightly and moisten with a little broth.
- Fill warm tortillas, top with cabbage, red onion and salsa, and serve with a cup of the hot broth.
Ray has a firm, stringy texture when cooked; shark or monkfish give a similar result.
Where to try it
- Caguamanta estilo Obregón Sonora, El Chino, Mazatlán: Recommended by Luz Noticias for caguamanta
- Mariscos El Mazateño (Tijuana), Tijuana
Reviews
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See also
References
- "Cahuamanta". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "Caguamanta: historia y beneficios del rico caldo marino sonorense". El Imparcial. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
- "La "caguamanta" ¿Cómo surge este tradicional platillo mazatleco?". Luz Noticias. Retrieved 2026-10-10.