Peruvian ceviche, cebiche or seviche, spelling varies results are the same yummy, those mathematician understand it!!!!
OK, first of all this is a process that takes LOVE, otherwise just go to a restaurant and order it!!! I know "Candela" in Tucson (only peruvian restaurant) has it and it is good, sorry for you folks in Phoenix, I heard the only peruvian restaurant up there just plainly SUUUUUCKS!!!! :lol:
Ingredients:
2 pounds of fillet fish, makarel or corvina are best, but you can use any fish preferebly white meat (flounder, red or blue snapper, tilapia or sea bass among many) texture and concistency of the meat is a plus!!!
2 medium red onions
hot pepper of your taste
1 pound of yams
1 pound of potatoes
3 large corn on a cob, yellow corns in Peru are about 14 inches long, so "saca tus cuentas"
20 or more limes
some culantro, aka cilantro
salt to taste
white pepper to taste
some lettuce leaves
Preparation:
couple of main pointers here:
A- preferably fish must be fresh but we all know that Arizona is an
island surounded by land!!!!!
B- use a pyrex not so deep but wide tray, NEVER and I mean NEVER
metal tray!!!!!!
C- squeeze limes by hand, again NEVER use a power squeezer, it will
bring the bitterness of the limes and will ruin the ceviche!!!!!
First start by boiling the yams, potatoes and corn in separate pots, no "melting pots" here the flavors are important, you do not want your $30 fillet migeon to taste like pork ribs. Do you?
all limes are already squeezed and ready to go, take the fish fillets and rinse them a couple of times and pad dry them with a paper towel that will not come apart or a towel, then cut them in strips of about an inch wide then cut the strips in about 1/2 inch wide, so you will end with chunkcs that are 1" x 1/2" approximately
Pour some lime juice in the bottom of the tray, then spread the fish chuncks throughout the tray uniformly, no piles here, then sprinkle some salt and pepper, you will be adding more later, then add the rest of the lime juice to cover the fish.
Cut the hot pepper of your taste in small pieces, remember flavor is key, so wash them and get rid of the seeds and veins and spread in the tray so its flavor covers every corner.
Sliced the onions very thin, watch out for those fingers, once done put the onions on a colander and rinse them with warm water for a couple of minutes, brings the flavors out with out the potency of the onions, if you like crying instead of flavor, then proceed with out rinse!!!
Depending if fish is fresh or frozen the timing is going to change, mix all the ingredients on the tray, preferably with a wooden spoon, softly with love and then let it cook, you want the fish to look white all around after cooking in lime juice for about and hour or so, frozen might break apart and be mashy if left too long.
While you wait for the juices to do its thing prepare the rest of the ingredients, wash lettuce leaves, cut yams and potatoes to about 2" x 2" pieces and corn about the same.
After fish is looking white check for seasoning at this time you might want to add more salt and pepper.
OK place the lettuce leaf on the plate serve the fish on top, do not be a pig, you can always have seconds, leave enough space for the garnishment, spread some onions on top of fish and arrange the yam, potatoe and corn, then sprinkle some culantro.
Now before you start eating get yourself a very, very cold TECATE, Pacifico or beer of your choice
preferably "Cuzquegna" hard to find here!!!!
Sit down and taste the flavors melting in your mouth.
A couple of tips:
1- chop celery very fine and add to dish at the end
2- chop garlic very, very fine and add to tray before adding the fish chunks
3- chop ginger and add to tray at the same time you add garlic.
Remember if you are cooking the ceviche you decide of all of the addition you want to put in it, then once you getting all down you start experimenting with different ingredients and fishes.
:chef:
