Another warm week in Seattle and
again I’m planning to battle the heat with my favorite weapon - food and drinks.
My today’s arsenal consist of yellowtail, scallops, limes and hot peppers and I’m
turning all these beauties into ceviche, which is, basically, fish or seafood
marinated in tart citrus juice.
Ceviche is a quite light and very refreshing dish and a perfect countermeasure against the high temps outside. You can serve it as an appetizer or a whole meal. A side of yam or plantain chips would be a great, though not necessary, accompaniment.
A regular ceviche consists of three parts: (1) the major ingredient, that is, fish and/or seafood; (2) a citrus marinade called leche de tigre, tiger’s milk, and (3) filler ingredients.
For this particular ceviche you will need:
Leche de tigre, tiger’s milk:
- About ½ cup lime juice (1.5-2 large limes)
- A pinch of sugar
- 1 small jalapeno, cut in half (seeds are the spiciest part, so leave them in or discard according to your spiciness threshold)
- 1/8 sweet onion
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled
- Salt, to taste
- 3 rau ram twigs, leaves only, thinly sliced (can be replaced with cilantro)
Fish and seafood:
- ½ lb yellowtail fillet (or take halibut, opah or swordfish instead)
- 6 large scallops
- 2-3 inch piece of cooked octopus (check Uwajimaya’s sashimi fridge)
Fillers:
- Several cherry tomatoes, preferably different colors, halved
- A quarter of medium sweet red onion, thinly sliced
- About ½ small jalapeno, deseeded, thinly sliced
- 3-4 rau ram leaves, rolled and thinly slices or leaves of several cilantro twigs
Combine all the ingredients for leche de tigre in a cup of a food processor and pulse until the vegetable are thoroughly minced. Put into a strainer and with a spoon squeeze as much juice as possible. Discard the pulp.
Cut the yellowtail into small pieces. If you prefer dice shape, then shoot for the sides no more than ½ inch. If flat, then the longer sides should not exceed 1 inch.
Cut the scallops in half and then thinly slice each. Slice the octopus on circles or semicircles depending on its diameter.
Combine the fish, seafood and leche de tigre in a bowl and toss gently, but thoroughly. Let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.
About 20 minutes before serving, stir in sliced jalapeno, red onions and rau rum and place back in the refrigerator. Right before meal time, divide the ceviche between individual serving vessels and garnish with cherry tomatoes.
Being a Peruvian dish, ceviche pairs nicely with pisco sour. With weather like this, double lime never hurts.
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