Ceviche
INGREDIENTS
• 1cup fresh Key lime juice (approximately 8 key limes)
• 1 small to medium red onion thinly sliced (julienne style)
Recipe by Cynthia Muir
Prep Time = 20 minutes
Cook Time = 10 Minutes
Servings = 4 Servings
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger (“Tip and Trick” use a spoon to remove skin from the ginger)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• 1-pound ¾ inch cubes mahi-mahi or tilapia fillet
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• A pinch of salt (use kosher salt if possible) add more to taste
• A pinch of pepper (try to use fresh ground on the finest setting) add more to taste
• 1 tablespoon of aji amarillo cream (cream recipe is below and if you like it spicy add 2 teaspoons of minced red aji limo which is a pepper that you can often find at the same south American stores)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil or canola oil
• 2 cups of ice
• 1 tablespoon of evaporated milk (optional and use to make it a creamy style of ceviche)
• Sweet potato (yam) peeled, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, boiled 5 minutes, drained, cooled (optional as garnish)
STEPS
1) Wash and dry the fish. Cut the fish into cubes of approximately ¾ inch. Remove any remaining skin, scales or bones. It is important that you only have cubes of lean meat similar in size for even cooking. Place prepared fish in a bowl in the fridge to be used later.
2) Wash key limes. Squeeze them into a large bowl. Strain the fresh lime juice to remove any seeds. This lime juice will be used to cook the fish through an acidic marinade.
3) Remove fish from the refrigerator and combine with key lime juice. Make sure that all the fish is covered by the juice. Cover the container and return to the refrigerator for 10 minutes. While fish is in the refrigerator check every two minutes to ensure all fish is submersed and properly cooking in the lime juice. You may need to stir fish mixture periodically to ensure all areas come in contact with the lime juice.
4) Cut the aji amarillo peppers in half, remove the seeds and ribs and boil for about 15 minutes. Remove the aji amarillo from the water and shock in an ice bath. When cooled (usually within a minute) remove and discard the skins.
5) At this time combine the aji amarillo, and olive oil and blend into a sauce or use mortar and pestle.
6) Peel and julienne your onion into thin slices, chop the cilantro. Peel and chop the garlic and grate the ginger.
7) Now is time to mix the rest of the ingredients – the fish should already be cooked through the process of the acidic marinate when the fish was combined with the key lime juice (the flesh should be opaque and about to fall apart). Add ice, onions, aji amarillo, cilantro, ginger, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper to the fish and lime juice mixture, add evaporated milk (you can omit the milk if you have a lactose allergy). Stir to combine all ingredients and you are ready to serve.
*Serve sweet potato and corn alongside ceviche.
Tips*You’ll need two pounds of Key limes to yield one cup of juice. Juice limes only halfway; pressing too firmly results in bitterness.
*Aji amarillo, aji limo and choclo corn are Peruvian supplies; sold at Latin markets. like Acapulco tropical and they will come frozen as they are primarily only grown in Peru.
Pisco Sour
Total Time = 2 minutes
Servings = 1 serving
INGREDIENTS:
• 3 ounces pisco (see note)
• 1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 ounce simple syrup (see note)
• 1 fresh egg white
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
DIRECTIONS:
Combine pisco, lime, simple syrup, and egg white in a cocktail shaker without ice and seal. Shake vigorously until egg white is foamy, about 10 seconds. Add ice to shaker and shake again very hard until well-chilled, about 10 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass; dash bitters atop the egg-white foam.
For simple syrup: In a jar, combine 1 cup water with 1 cup superfine sugar. Seal jar and shake until sugar is completely dissolved. Keep remainder refrigerated.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Cocktail shaker, cocktail strainer
Note:
Many recipes for pisco sours call for 2, not 3, ounces of pisco. This recipe is based on the stronger versions of pisco that were served in Lima, Peru, which typically were made with 3 ounces. If that is too boozy for you, feel free to scale back to 2 ounces.