Ceviche is not so much a recipe as it is a principle of fish preparation, which opens up endless scope for the chef to experiment. This dish was invented by Peruvian fishermen, who, due to the inability to fry the fish in the sea, decided to water it with lime juice. The sour juice not only marinated the fish perfectly but also reacted with protein, acquired a milky color and a special taste. The Peruvians began to call the resulting sauce “tiger milk” (Leche de Tigre), and it is an integral part of this dish. After eating the fish pieces, be sure to drink the juice – it’s amazing.

Summary

Ingredients

• Whole sea bass – 500 gr or fillet – 300 gr
• Orange – 1 pc.
• Lime – 2-3 pcs. (100 ml juice)
• Cilantro – 1 small bundle
• Red onion – 0.3333 (30 gr)
• Chili pepper – 0.3333 (5 gr)
• Avocado – 1 pc.

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Instructions

1. You can buy ready-made fillets, or you can cut the fish yourself – it’s more interesting this way. This is not very difficult to do, we need a sharp knife, bone clippers, a separate fish board, a tea towel to wipe the board, and optionally a fish scaler.
2. Cut off the dorsal fin first, as it is very sharp, and rinse the fish.
3. Now you need to clean the fish from the scales. This can be done with a special fish scaler or the back of a knife. We clean in the sink, moving from the tail to the head. We wash the fish again and proceed to cut.
4. Make cuts near the fin on both sides and cut off the head.
5. We cut the abdomen from head to tail and take out all the insides. Then we cut through the ridge and thoroughly wash the fish under running water.
6. Now you need to remove the fillet from the bone.
7. We make an incision along the back, keeping the knife as close to the bones as possible.
8. Now we make an incision from the side of the abdomen.
9. We cut off the fillet from the tail.
10. Cut off the fillet completely from the back of the bone.
11. Trim the fillet and move to the other side.
12. We cut the back. Turn the fish over and completely cut off the fillets.
13. We trim the fillet. Don’t throw these pieces away, they will go in ceviche too.
14. There are still ribs on the second fillet. Cut them off carefully, keeping the knife as close to the bones as possible so as not to cut off excess meat.
15. Now take the tweezers and remove the bones. To find from, slide your finger along the fillet.
16. Done, now you need to remove the skin.
17. We take a thin sharp knife, a flexible fillet knife is perfect, and cut the fillets as close to the skin as possible.
18. Now let’s start slicing. You can cut the fish into cubes, but since the fillet of small sea bass is rather flat, it is better to cut into slices – like on sashimi, only thicker.
19. The seabass is ready, now it’s just a little thing – to prepare the marinade, which the Peruvians call “tiger’s milk”.
20. To easily squeeze the juice out of the limes and oranges, roll them across the table using palm pressure.
21. Squeeze out the juice from limes and oranges. It’s best to do it with your hands, as juicers can release the bitterness from the rind.
22. Cut the red onion into the thinnest half-rings; a sharp knife is useful here.
23. Soak the onions in water for 5 minutes to wash off excess bitterness.
24. Peel the chili peppers. The main thing is to remove all the seeds and partitions because they contain the maximum pungency. After that, you can safely add chili to the dish. But remember that all chili peppers have a different pungency, and all people handle spicy foods differently. Try a small bite and add as much as you see fit.
25. I cut a third of a large chili into small cubes.
26. Finally, remove the cilantro leaves from a small bunch and chop them coarsely.
27. Add onions, chili, and cilantro to the citrus juice.
28. Now add fish, a pinch of salt, mix everything well and leave to marinate. Or don’t leave. There is no exact recipe for how much ceviche to marinate. Everyone does it differently – from 1 second to one hour. In the first case, the fish will be completely raw, in the last – almost ready.
29. The golden mean is 10-15 minutes. I marinated my ceviche for a little less than 10 minutes. And remember the main thing that it is impossible to stop the marinating process, which means that you need to eat ceviche immediately after cooking.
30. While the fish is marinating, cut the avocado into cubes. This can be done very simply. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, and make several vertical and horizontal cuts as close to the skin as possible.
31. Now take a spoon and take out the pulp. Add the avocado to the ceviche, place on portioned bowls (don’t forget the tiger milk), and serve immediately!

Enjoy your meal!