Chili-pickled Shrimp Tostaditas

The delicious, puckery, and durable escabeche sauce for this recipe is based on a Tampican dish in Diana Kennedy's The Cuisines of Mexico.

For the sauce:
 
5 dried chilis anchos
 
1/2 c. olive oil
 
1/4 medium onion, sliced
 
3 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly sliced
 
1/4 tsp. oregano
 
8 peppercorns
 
3 whole cloves
 
1 1/4 c. mild white vinegar
 
2 bay leaves
 
1/8 tsp. Oregano
 
1/2 tsp. salt, or TT
 
1-2 tsp. honey
 

For the tostaditas:
 
1/2 lb. bay shrimp, or diced small shrimp
 
Lemon wedge
 
6 peppercorns
 
1/2 bay leaf
 
1 tsp. salt5 - 6 corn tortillas, or about 24 tortilla chips
 
Escabeche sauce, see recipe above
 
1/2 avocado, diced
 
Sour cream
 
Pickled jalapeno rings
 
Fresh cilantro
 

For the sauce:
 
Stem, seed, and devein the chilis. Fry lightly in medium hot shallow oil, till softened. Put the chilis in a blender or food processor. Add the onion, garlic, tsp oregano, peppercorns and cloves to the oil and saut until the onion is soft and translucent, but not golden. Fish out the spices and add them to the blender jar, reserving the oil in its pan.
 
Heat the vinegar almost to boiling and add to the ingredients in the blender. Let soak for 20 minutes in the blender jar, then puree. Reheat the oil to mediumand then carefully add the puree, along with the bay leaves and the bit of extra oregano and salt. Cook this mixture down over low heat for 15 minutes or until quite thick, but be careful not to let it burn. Towards the end, this sauce may splatter viciously, so keep a lid handy. Add a little honey to taste if you feel the dish needs a bit of moderation.

For the tostaditas:
 
Add the lemon wedge, peppercorns, salt, and bay leaf to one quart of water, bring to a boil and add the shrimp all at once. Cook just 1-2 minutes, whether water reboils or not. Scoop out the shrimp into a bowl of ice water, then remove again to a collander to drain. Reserve a tablespoon or two of the cooking water.
 
If you are not using store-bought chips, cut fresh corn tortillas into fourths and fry in medium-hot shallow oil for a few seconds, turning once, until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with a bit of salt.
 
Mix the shrimp with about 2 tablespoons of the sauce, thinned with a teaspoon or two of the cooking water, then mix lightly with the cubed avocado. Top a crisp tortilla wedge with about a tablespoon of shrimp, then a bit of sour cream, and finally a pickled jalapeno slice or fresh coriander leaf. Makes about 18-24 hors d'oeuvres.

Notes: This Tampican escabeche sauce is quite thick when made, but if you want to store it in the fridge Kennedy cautions to thin it only with vinegar and not water, or it may grow moldy. I keep it thick in the fridge, and find that it lasts at least six weeks. We make this dish often when fresh Maine bay shrimp are in season. The same mix makes excellent soft tacos, garnished with finely shredded cabbage.