Ceviche with Avocado on Tortilla Crisps
Serves 6-8 as an hors d’oeuvre.
This is a traditional Peruvian fish dish, refreshing and piquant on a hot summer’s day.
100g Flathead fillet (or sea bass, snapper) Ask your fishmonger to remove bones and skin
Generous pinch of sea salt
Juice of 1 lime, 2-3 tblspns
½ eschallot, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
1 tspn finely diced med-sized red chilli, seeds & membrane removed
Pepper to taste
Half a small avocado, diced
Natural Tortilla crisps
Lightly rinse whole fish fillet with cold water and dry with paper towel.
Finely dice into ½ cm squares, place into a glass dish and toss with salt. Add lime juice and mix. Scatter with onion slices and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the dish.
(At this stage, you can leave any time between 15 minutes to 2 hours).
When ready to serve, add diced chilli and mix. Season to taste.
TO SERVE: Press down diced avocado onto tortilla crisps and top with a spoon of ceviche.
Notes:
- Avocado can be prepared 1-2 hours in advance by mashing together with a little lime juice.
- Ceviche is raw fish which is ‘Cooked’ by curing with salt and acidity. This preserves the fish. It can be served at once and be raw. Left for a further 15-30 minutes, the fish will become opaque and cured on the outside while raw in the centre. Left overnight and it will be cured all the way through. It is up to your personal taste.
- Add chilli just before serving if you dont like it too spicy.
- Delicious with margaritas, cold white wine such as a Pinot Grigio or beer.