Ceviche is a Spanish dish that originates from southern Spain – a land known for its citrus and Moorish spice influence. The defining technique of ceviche is letting the citric acid of lime, lemon or orange juice “cook”(a process called denaturation) the seafood ingredients which imparts the delicate seafood a soft, buttery texture as though it has been slowly poached for hours. Well, it sort of has been! If the thought of raw seafood or overnight marination is a bit too much, you can also gently cook the seafood in water or lime juice until the seafood is cooked to opaque. Then remove from the liquid, cool, and add the onion, tomato and other ingredients to rest and mingle until its time to serve. Enjoy!

Preparation time:

15 minutes + overnight

Ingredients:

• 12oz/300 gram fresh, raw shrimp, scallops, or fish like salmon or sea bass
• ¼ cup chopped red onion
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 oz red chile or jalapeno, minced
• 1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
• 1/3 cup, red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seed, toasted
• 1 cup fresh lime juice
• ½ orange, juiced
• 1 Lime
• Salt/pepper

Equipment needed:

• Medium bowl
• Chopping board
• Chef’s Knife
• Morter & pestle
• Citrus Juicer
• Spoon for stirring
• Small skillet

Preparation:

1. Rinse seafood under cold water and place in a bowl
2. Cut the tomato, onion and red bell pepper into small, uniform, pieces. Add to seafood
3. Mince garlic and chili add to the seafood mixture
4. Pour lime juice over the mixture until it’s covered. Cover the bowl and place in refrigerator.

5. 

   Stir the seafood mixture every 30 minutes, making sure all of the mixture is covered by lime juice. The seafood will slowly turn opaque as it “cooks” in the citric acid of the lime juice. The seafood and vegetables will release some water as they also marinate.

6. Let marinate overnight.
7. The following day, drain the lime juice and liquid from the ceviche. The seafood should be firm and no longer raw.
8. Add the juice of the final lime and orange juice to the mixture.
9. Toast the cumin seed in a small skillet on low heat. To gauge the toasting process, listen for when the seeds start to “pop” in the pan and then turn off the skillet, leaving the seeds to toast a few more minutes. The seeds will go from pop to toasted quickly so take care so that they do not burn.
10. Pulverise the cumin seeds with the mortar & pestle. Add to the ceviche
11. Rinse, dry and chop the cilantro. Add to the ceviche
12. Add salt and pepper to taste
13. Serve immediately!

The ceviche needs to be eaten as soon as possible to avoid any spoilage. Enjoy!