When a gleaming fillet of fresh salmon calls to me at the fish market, it invariably has ceviche written all over it.
Mr. Hubby is not what I call a crazed out foodie. I feel for him. It must be hard for him to be living with someone who is always amped up about food and has an opinion about everything she eats.
And so though Mr. Hubby does appreciate good food, you'll never hear him swooning, drooling, cussing or fussing over a dish (unlike someone else we know). However, just the words ceviche & sashimi let loose in a conversation brings a twinkle to Mr. Hubby's eyes.
Ceviche (pronounced sa-vee-chay) involves the process of chemically cooking fish in an acidic base such as lime lemon or other citric juices has been around a long time and one variation of this dish or the other is easily found is most Latin countries.
It also happens to be a staple in our kitchen and is happily devoured by grown-ups and kids alike especially in warm weather but come to think of it, I make this quite often in the winter too.
When you go down the ingredient list with fresh salmon fillet, ripe cocktail tomatoes, ripe avocado, limes, fresh cilantro leaves, good quality olive oil, bell pepper & Serrano chiles, is it any wonder why?!
So here goes - Gather together, a fresh salmon fillet, ripe cocktail tomatoes, ripe avocado, limes or lemons, fresh cilantro leaves, good quality olive oil, red or yellow bell pepper, Serrano chile or Thai chilly and salt.
Also required is some of the pickling juices from a jar of jalapeno peppers.
Prepare the ingredients -
Salmon - With a sharp slicer or chef's knife slice the salmon into 1/8" thick slices.
Citric base - In a large glass mixing bowl, pour olive oil and squeeze the juice of the limes or lemon (whichever you are using) into the bowl.
Sieve so none of the seeds get into the bowl. Stir to combine.
Place the sliced salmon into the juice and oil mixture and stir to thoroughly coat.
Tomatoes - Wash and quarter the tomatoes.
Add the tomatoes to the salmon. You can already see the salmon becoming opaque.
Avocado - Halve the avocado. Remove the seed and discard. Using a dinner spoon, scoop out the avocado halves from their skin. Dice into 1/2" pieces and add to the bowl
Thai Chilly - Slice at a diagonal as fine as possible and discard the seeds. If using a serrano chile then halve, de-seed and finely chop.
Cilantro leaves - Wash and finely chop.
Add both the chillies and the cilantro to the bowl.
Add the salt and stir to thoroughly combine.
Cover the glass bowl with cling wrap and allow the bowl to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
As you can see the salmon is already opaque and 'chemically cooked' It will continue to 'cook' as it chills.
As you serve, use a slotted spoon so you can drain away the excess liquid that collects at the bottom of the bowl.
Plate the fish and the solids onto individual plates or onto a platter.
Serve immediately!
The fish is completely cooked and the tomatoes, peppers and avocado together create a delicate flavorful salad. The cilantro is the perfect herb of choice, providing a flavor burst with every bite.
This dish also makes such a wonderful presentation that it is fit for company or even a first course for a family lunch.
Recipe for
Peruvian Salmon Ceviche
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Chilling time - 1 hour
Shopping list
12 oz fresh salmon fillet
4 ripe cocktail tomatoes
1 ripe avocado
3 lemons (to get approx 3/4 cup juice)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 tbs good quality olive oil
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper
1 Serrano chile or Thai chilly
1 tsp salt
1 tbs pickling juices from a jar of jalapeno peppers
Preparation -
Prepare the ingredients -
Salmon - With a sharp slicer or chef's knife slice the salmon into 1/8" thick slices.
Citric base - In a large glass mixing bowl, pour olive oil and squeeze the juice of the limes or lemon (whichever you are using) into the bowl.
Sieve so none of the seeds get into the bowl. Stir to combine.
Place the sliced salmon into the juice and oil mixture and stir to thoroughly coat.
Tomatoes - Wash and quarter the tomatoes.
Add the tomatoes to the salmon. You can already see the salmon becoming opaque.
Avocado - Halve the avocado. Remove the seed and discard. Using a dinner spoon, scoop out the avocado halves from their skin. Dice into 1/2" pieces and add to the bowl
Thai Chilly - Slice at a diagonal as fine as possible and discard the seeds. If using a serrano chile then halve, de-seed and finely chop.
Cilantro leaves - Wash and finely chop.
Add both the chillies and the cilantro to the bowl.
Add the salt and stir to thoroughly combine.
Cover the glass bowl with cling wrap and allow the bowl to chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
As you can see the salmon is already opaque and 'chemically cooked' It will continue to 'cook' as it chills.
As you serve, use a slotted spoon so you can drain away the excess liquid that collects at the bottom of the bowl.
Plate & Serve Immediately
Enjoy!
