Thursday, October 20, 2011

Recipe Thursday: Ceviche with Chef Carl

Carl has been talking for a long time- years, possibly- about making a Ceviche recipe. I've gone my whole life without trying this dish and I have to say, it was pretty stinkin' good. We tested it out on the cookout crowd last weekend and it was a hit! So without further ado, I'll pass the Recipe Thursday torch off to Carl:


This is what a dedicated fiance I am: Not only did I take the time to prep, cook, and blog about this recipe, but I also had to dedicate an entire morning to fishing. Talk about dedication!

This is a super easy recipe.  There is no actual 'cooking' involved! All you have to do is gather the ingredients, chop em up, then let it all soak in the fridge for 1 to 3 hours.


The first step to making a delicious ceviche is to go and find one of these:

A Carl holding a Redfish.
I used redfish (aka spot tail, red drum, puppy drum), but you can also use shrimp or any fresh or salt water fish with firm white meat.  If you can get ahold of it, I hear wahoo, tuna, or mahi are the tastiest.  If you are as sloppy at cleaning fish as I am, here's what you're left with:

The filets

Several salt and fresh water fish have a line of red muscle that runs through the center.  Get rid of it.  It's not bad for you or anything, but it does have an overpowering fishy flavor. After that, make 1/2 inch cubes out of the filets.

Scraps on the left. I can't overstate how much Riley and Melman love fish scraps.

Here are most of the ingredients:
And your stomach begins to growl...
Ingredients List:

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. fish or shrimp

3/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 small red onion, chopped fine

1 large tomato, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and stems removed, chopped fine

1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil to taste

Other optional Ingredients:

Juice from 1/2 an orange (for added sweetness)

1 yellow or green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cucumber, chopped (for extra crunch)

 One thing that makes this recipe so great is that it doesn't require any spices.  The flavor of all the fresh ingredients combined is phenomenal. When I was checking out at the grocery store, the cashier looked at me and said, "mmmm, I can just smell all this coming together!" I'm pretty sure you could combine any or all of these ingredients in any way, shape, or form and whatever comes out would be delicious.



Everything but the fish.

The fruit of your labor, still missing the fish.

Question: True or False: Parasites could potentially give you super powers.

This one is tricky. The answer is actually False. For this reason, I let the fish soak in the ceviche at least an hour.  The acid of the fruit juice denatures the protein in the fish, which kills all of the cells, parasites, bacteria, etc. If the dish is refrigerated, it can last a day or two, but after marinating for 4 or 5 hours the ingredients start to lose their individual flavors. It's still delectable, but definitely best served fresh! Serve with chips or crackers.

For the record, I got this specific recipe off of the 'cooking your catch' forum on charlestonfishing.com. Try it out!

1 comment:

  1. Yummy!! Although the thought of Melman and Riley having fish breath did make me a little nauseous. In other news, this time next week we will all be in Charleston and y'all will be gettin' hitched!! WOW!

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