Romeritos

Step 1: Boil the 14 oz small waxy potatoes in salted water for 12 minutes until just tender; drain. Boil the 3 nopal cactus paddles for 8 minutes until they turn olive green, then drain and rinse off the slime.

Step 2: Blanch the 1 ⅓ lb romeritos (seepweed) or samphire tips in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, drain, cool and squeeze firmly in a clean cloth.

Step 3: In a large pot, dissolve the 9 oz ready-made mole poblano paste paste in the 3 ¾ cups chicken or vegetable stock over a medium-low heat, whisking. Add the 1 tomato and ⅔ oz Mexican drinking chocolate and simmer 20 minutes, stirring often, until it coats the back of a spoon. Season with 1 tsp salt.

Step 4: Grind the 2 ⅞ oz dried shrimp to a coarse powder in a blender. Whisk the egg whites from the 3 eggs to stiff peaks, fold in the yolks, then fold in the shrimp powder.

Step 5: Heat the ¾ cup vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Drop in spoonfuls of the batter and fry 1–2 minutes per side until puffed and golden; drain on paper. A common mistake is salting the batter: the dried shrimp is already very salty.

Step 6: Add the potatoes, nopales and romeritos to the mole and simmer 10 minutes. Slip the tortitas in for the last 5 minutes so they soak up the sauce without falling apart. Serve with warm tortillas. For the vegetarian version, skip the tortitas and stock swap above.