Ceviche

Ceviche

I made this one up today. Something new for the gang. My Ceviche. I think you are going to like this one. Looks good, and boy oh boy the taste. Like a bloody Mary on steroids.

I had Ceviche for the first time at the street food congress in Singapore. Remember when I met Mr Bourdain? One of his TV show’s trips was to Mexico when he visited these lovely ladies at their street food cart. Yes they were at the food congress and I was able to try their absolutely amazing ceviche. It really was just amazing. In fact it was made more amazing by the fact that it has raw fish and squid in it – yep and I absolutely loved it – go figure says the non-fish lover. One of the best things ever to pass these lips. It sort of reminded me a bit of a real good and spicy bloody Mary.

It also reminded me of the time in The Philippines when we visited Mary’s family for Fiesta. This was a huge giant clam version – simply cut from the shell and marinated in lemon juice with some shallots. Done. Have to admit this one was a; “Don’t eat with your eyes!

Ceviche South American or Polynesian?

The dish ceviche is reputed to come from the coastal regions of Central and South America (here comes Daddy-Pedia). There is some dispute here though as the origins are also associated to places such as Polynesia. Also some say that the Spanish brought with them citrus fruits, so perhaps started this dish, and others say the starting point was actually Peru with again those influences from the Spanish. The greatest varieties exist in Peru, Chile and Ecuador but are also top selling menu items in coastal El Salvador, USA, Mexico, Caribbean, Panama and Guatemala. How about that!!!

It can also be spelt ceviche or seviche. Basically it is raw fish, marinated in citrus juices, spiced with some chili, and add in some onion, salt and maybe coriander. It has to be made fresh as there is no heat involved here in the cooking process of the fish. Almost sushi/sashimi-like.

Anyway wherever it comes from is no concern of mine – I had an exceptional experience at the food congress – one I’ll never forget, and because of that I have attempted today to recreate that dish and in turn show my respect to these ladies. This is their wonderful, amazingly, delicious concoction below. Great work ladies! Great work…

And now to mine, and we’re off – this will make a fairly huge bowl. So easily feeding 6 or so for a large starter if you serve separately as per my picture. You’ll need to do this in a bowl and then serve individually. In the bowl goes the following;

• 2 litres of tomato juice;
• 6 roughly chopped shallots;
• 5 roughly chopped garlic cloves;
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce;
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice;
• 1 tablespoon or so of Tabasco sauce;
• A handful of roughly chopped coriander;
• 250ml of chicken stock; and
• A good pinch of cracked black pepper and salt.

Give it a stir and pop it in the fridge to get the flavours muddling.

Take a firm white fish fillet (I used snapper) and slice it thinly. Place it in a bowl and cover with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper. In to the fridge with that too.

Enough prawns for 3 each, if you’re going to do the fancy presentation as I did above. I simply boiled these until pink and then removed all the skin, head etc. A little slit to be cut about half way down so you can rest them on the side of your serving bowl. Set them aside to cool.

Take 3 squid or Sotong and remove tentacles and the clear plastic quill thing inside. Give them a good wash and then cut in to rings. I gave each of the rings a little bash with a tenderising hammer. Boy the results where great as the squid was so so soft, almost like butter. Again to cook this I just added it to boiling water for 2-3 minutes until puffed up. Drain and set aside to cool.

That’s all the prep done. When everything was cold I simply added all the ingredients together (excluding the lemon juice that the fish was ‘cooking’ in). Then served up as you can see in the picture. Looks restaurant quality and I tell you it bloody tasted that good too! Go on give it a try, impress your friends.

If you like Caribbean Food check out Lime House!

ENJOY!!!