| Ceviche is a popular Latin American dish, a sort of a cold salad of citrus-marinated seafood, topped with corn tostado!
Ceviche is found throughout Latin American (and Spain). The most well known recipe is to be found in Peru but, in fact, almost all of Latin America has adopted this dish, each giving a twist to the original recipe (I've read that in Ecuador, for example, they use ketchup and orange juice to add flavor). |
| The marinade used in Ceviche is citrus based, with lemons and limes being the most commonly used. This being said, other citrus fruits may be used too. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured, which pickles or cooks the seafood without heat. Traditional Ceviche is usually left up to three hours to marinate. Nowadays, most people take the shortcut and marinate this dish for an hour in the refrigerator. This is my take (I used to make a great abalone Ceviche in Sydney among other fish and shellfish)
For 6 to 8 persons: 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and de-veined, the juice of 6 limes, the juice of 2 large oranges, half a pint of tomato passata (or you can chop a dozen tomatoes into tiny cubes), 2 red onions, finely minced, a handful of chopped cilantro, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, a dash of olive oil and slat & pepper to taste. Serve with popcorn, tostado (similar to corn nuts), and chifles (fried plantain chips) on the side. Ceviche is often served with hot pepper sauce as well though I like mine with sambal. Or a small dish of finely chopped chilies. Combine all the ingredients together and marinate for at least 2 hours. It's that simple. Add cracked pepper and the chopped cilantro on top. You can use this recipe for fresh fish as well, and just about any raw shellfish (including oysters.) |
