Sometimes, an idea occurs to me, and then I find that I can't account for why I didn't think of it sooner.
And so it is that I sit here nearly literally kicking myself for the fact that tonight is the first time I've ever made ceviche myself. It's stupidly easy. If you can operate a knife and boil water, you can make ceviche. And the only reason I thought to do it is that I realized I had about a dozen limes in the fridge that were on their last legs and I didn't know how to use them up, except by making mojitos, and I don't do cocktails when I'm home alone.
What I did tonight was more or less Mexican in style (I think), and I will consume it on a tostada with some homemade guacamole.
First, I juiced all my limes (ended up with just shy of a cup of juice).
Then, I poached a pound of peeled shrimp in 50/50 beer/water with a couple of tablespoons* of the lime juice and some salt...brought to a boil, tossed in the shrimp, and removed from the heat just as the boil resumed. Drained, and then let shrimp steam in the pot about 10 minutes, then removed to a bowl and put in the freezer for quick chilling (about another 10 minutes).
Meanwhile, I chopped up most of a red onion, a cucumber, a smallish jicama, most of a bunch of cilantro, four radishes, two jalapenos**, and a tin of anchovies. Mixed all that together with the lime juice, a few shakes of Valentina, a few shakes of olive oil (plus the oil from the anchovies), kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste (which means lots of both). Made sure the shrimp were cool, and added them in, mixing thoroughly and them pressing the shrimp down so they were all submerged in the juices. I'm trying to let it sit for an hour before I really dig in, although I've been tasting it all along and it's already pretty good.
*As always, all measurements are very, very approximate. I eyeball almost everything.
**Salmonella can kiss my ass.
5 comments:
Done eating yet? :)
I ate a damned good Hot Pocket tonight.
Dude, you rock. Fresh ceviche done well is an amazing thing. I've never learned how to do it myself, but I've often been the beneficiary, most recently in Honduras with a barracuda caught just an hour before prep time.
I don't know if the ceviche process makes it more important or less important to use fresh fish. I do know that having a good handle on how much of what ingredient goes in is incredibly important, and it sounds like you've got the touch.
Joe--yeah, it was good. Leftovers for lunch today, too.
Matt--I didn't have to chase any small exploding humans around yesterday (or any day).
Phil--You are kind, but really, it's pretty easy. As far as proportions, I guess that's just trial and error and experience. I haven't made ceviche, but I've made a hell of a lot of salsa. As far freshness goes...obviously fresh is better than not, regardless, but I'd bet this is much more forgiving than sushi or even grilling. However, I the freshness probably matters more if you only use the citrus juices to cook the fish, rather than poaching it first like I did.
i love ceviche.
never had it with shrimp or anchovie though.
round here, its usually made with whatever was fished from the water this afternoon.
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