Ceviche (pronounced sih-vee-chay) is my most eaten and most-loved dish of this amazing summer. It’s delicious, refreshingly clean and cold, and satisfyingly protein-rich; oh, and really easy to make. The two keys to this dish are really fresh fish, and letting it "cook" in salty lime juice. The acid in the lime (or lemon) turns the fish white by changing the protein pretty much the same way that heat does, but gently and slowly. You could say it’s cooked and raw at the same time, keeping everyone happy!
I like to add red onion, yellow pepper and chilli to give colour, crunch and zing. Served on a bed of lettuce, cabbage and corn, the ceviche makes a great lunch or light dinner. In this version I’ve topped it with a tomato salsa, which keeps the sweetness of the tomatoes distinct from the tangy fish. Separating flavours out like this is an easy way to add interest to a simple dish, so you get different taste experiences with each mouthful.
Holding some flour tortillas over a gas flame brings them to life, they become hot and charred, which makes them a great partner to the fresh vitality of this salad. The best fish to choose is simply whatever is most fresh.
Ingredients
| 200 g | White fish, needs to be very fresh (Main) |
| ¾ tsp | Salt |
| 4 tsp | Fresh lime juice |
| 1 | Red onion |
| 1 small | Yellow pepper |
| 1 | Chilli, or more to taste |
| 1 | Iceberg lettuce |
| ¼ cup | Cabbages |
| ½ cup | Corn kernels |
| ¼ tsp | Salt |
| 1 squeeze | Lemon juice |
| 2 medium | Tomatoes, finely chopped |
| ¼ tsp | Salt |
| ¼ tsp | Ground pepper |
| 1 splash | Olive oil |
| 2 | Flour tortillas |
Directions
- Cut fish in to into approx 5-10mm pieces and mix in abowl with the salt and lime juice. Let it sit while you finely slice the onion, pepper and chilli, then add them and stir to combine. You can keep this in the fridge for a few hours quite happily, the fish will get whiter and firmer the longer it sits in the lime juice.
- Reserve some of the bigger iceberg lettuce leaves to line your serving bowl (see step 5 below) and finely slice some of the rest to get 1 cup. Finely slice the cabbage to get one cup also. Add both to a bowl with corn, salt and lemon juice and give it a quick mix.
- Mix the tomato in a separate bowl with salt, pepper and olive oil.
- Use tongs to hold the flour tortillas over a gas flame until well browned and charred on both sides, then cut into smaller pieces. You can rest them on a hot electric element for a few seconds to get a similar result if you don't have gas.
- To assemble, place the iceberg leaves in a serving bowl then add a bed of lettuce/cabbage mix. Top with fish and then the tomato mix. Serve with charred tortillas alongside.