Recipe for a mexican-style Ceviche
The ceviche is a fish recipe that has originated in Peru, invented by the pre-colombian civilizations there, it is pronounced in spanish: sayvichay. Although the official history of the ceviche makes it a peruvian meal, it is widely enjoyed in Mexico and across South America; so I felt this site would be incomplete without this recipe. Its main aspect is that you do not have the seafood to actually cook, theoretically just marinate and mix. If you add to this recipe a few avocado bits, this is a very refreshing meal for those hot summer days, as I have outlined here how to do.
The thing I need to emphasize here is that the fish needs to be extremely fresh or, if not 100% sure, have gone through a deep freezing process because the Ceviche's soaking of the raw fish meat in citrus juice for a few hours step does not in itself kill all
the bacteria cooking takes care of; this is why I recommend hereby to slightly boil your fish fillets beforehand.
How to make ceviche (for 3 people)
Ingredients
12 corn tortillas
1 pound of sole, tilapia or halibut fillets; make 100% sure it is very fresh; as a guide fish found in large food chains supermarkets cannot be trusted
1 and ½ cups of lime or lemon juice
1 pound chopped tomatoes
1 small onion, very thinly diced
2 Chiles jalapeños or 4 serrano chiles, cleaned and chopped
1/2 teaspoonful of dry oregano
2 tablespoons of freshly cut coriander
2 avocadoes
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
Pieces of lemon and coriander leaves used as decoration
Preparation
Since we can't always be absolutely certain of the freshness of your fish, I recommend to cheat this recipe a little bit and boil the fish fillets in (already boiling) water for 2-3 minutes, prior to chopping them.
Chop your fish fillets to half inch cubes.
Place the fish pieces in a glass bowl that can be covered and pour over it the lime or lemon juice; the fish has to be completely covered by the citrus juices as it is this that will "cook" the fish. Cover your fish and refrigerate for 6 hours, turning it over after half of the time is up (3 hours). The fish that has been "cooked" by the citrus juices will become opaque, just as if it had been baked.
When the fish is opaque, take it out it with a spoon with holes, drain it completely. Reserve the juice used to soak the fish.
Mix the tomatoes, the onion, the chilis, the olive oil, the oregano and the coriander in a bowl. Season to taste and pour in the reserved juice. Mix thoroughly and add this mixture to the fish. Cover this mixture and return it to the refrigerator, so that the flavors mix themselves. Last mix in the chopped avocadoes. Next we allow it to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish each plate with the lemon and some coriander leaves. Serve it in a bowl so that each guest can place the quantity of ceviche that they wish on their tortillas.
