Prawn Ceviche
I’ve rejoiced in the pleasures of Ceviche for quite some time. I think my first introduction was back in Miami. Chris and I, would often escape to the Florida Keys for some fishing and down time. We would rent a boat, and spend the day scouring the reefs for some edibles. Chris would hang his fishing rod over the side of the boat, while I would lounge on the back of the boat, till a huge rogue wave would come up behind me and give me a good drenching.
I often like to replay those memories. Every time, I play a home video of these fishing adventures, I hear my voice yelling out: “can we cook it? Can we cook it!.” I don’t know about you, but the sound of my own voice always makes me cringe, let alone when I sound like a kid in a toy shop.
We didn’t always go home with the catch. In fact, I think i can count the times on one hand. But, there was always plenty of fresh seafood to buy.
Ceviche is one of those, easy to make and take on a camping trip or picnic, dishes. It all goes into one big nice bowl and marinates for about 3 hours. Ceviche is not cooked using heat but rather by the acid in the lime/lemon juice, which in essence, denatures the proteins. However, do note, that this form of cooking does not kill off any of the bacteria and that’s why ceviche requires the freshest fish, especially shell fish. So, you want to use shrimp that was caught that very morning. If you don’t have same day caught shrimp, you can drop the peeled shrimp (tails on) in a boiling bath of hot water for a minute, then quickly shock them with cold water, to stop the cooking before marinading them in a citric bath, for an hour or so.
Prawn Ceviche
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1-3 hours
Serves: 2
Cast of characters:
- 1 pound fresh king prawns- peeled, washed and de-veined (Remove tails unless you are blanching which then you can keep on) You can also use scallops, sea bass, octopus, halibut, fresh tuna amongst others.
- 1/2 tablespoon rock salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 green pepper, seeds removed and finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
- 175ml lime juice (about 5 limes)
- 40g coriander, finely chopped
If you’re not using fresh prawns, then begin by dropping them into boiling water for 1 minute then quickly running them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain.
In a deep mixing bowl add the lemon juice, onions and hot pepper. Cover and chill in the fridge
for 3 hours, if blanched 1 hour will suffice.
Once marinaded for desired length of time, remove from fridge, add the red bell peppers
and coriander
Chill for a further 30 minutes if desired before serving. Serve with a lettuce vichyssoise.
I’m afraid my allergies require me to blanch the prawns, whether they are frozen or fresh, sigh. Looks like a tasty preparation either way, though
oh yummy, I love ceviches! Its light and zingly, perfect for summer
this is truly refreshing!
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love the idea of ceviche! These shrimps look so elegant in the spoon.
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Mmm I love this kind of dish yet sadly no fresh, raw shrimp to be had in Nantes. Could I use this for scallops?
Really like this post, thanks for writing.