Ceviche – Ecuador

When you think of Ceviche (if you know the dish) odds are that the first country you think of is Peru, not Ecuador. While Peru is probably the undisputed king of the raw fish dish ‘cooked’ in lemon, it is natural, as is the case with many of the other dishes consumed across the world, that is would transcend borders and be reinvented.

Peruvian cuisine has taken off as a world leading cuisine and now a days you can find trendy Peruvian restaurants in many countries of the world where ceviche is often served up in elegantly small portions. Often it is white fish that has been cooked in lemon, and it is served up in what is known as tiger’s milk. This ‘milk’ is basically the cooking juices of the fish in the lemon and is sometimes served as a drink in Peru. These traditional Peruvian ceviches are often garnished with large corn kernels, plantain chips, very thinly sliced red onion. You might now be asking why if I’m writing a post about Ecuador, am I banging on about Peruvian ceviche. Well the truth is that it’s what I came to know first and I always enjoy comparing dishes… this is not to say though that the Ecuadorian ceviche is lesser or simply other to Peruvian Ceviche.

Ceviche in Ecuador is made in a different way to Peruvian ceviche. There are as with almost any dish different variations across the country but for the most part in Ecuador the fish or shrimp is cooked first and then served in a lemon, tomato and onion sauce. The tomatoes are usually grated fresh and on occasion tinned tomatoes are used. The result is interesting, while the mouthfeel isn’t exactly what I would expect of a ceviche the fish retains a lot more of its own flavour and the overall result is less acidic, in a way I think the Ecuadorian version does a better job of keeping the integrity of the raw ingredients, but I prefer the mouth feel of Peruvian ceviche. In Ecuador ceviche is also served with plantain chips or sometimes it can be served with popcorn which seems to be a side to many a dish.

Below is my recipe which is slightly adapted from this one. I chose to make less of the recipe and also did a combination of cod and prawn and a whole kilo of prawns in England can be quite expensive!

Ingredients

• 250g of prawns

• 250g of cod cut into cubes

• ½ a red onion cut into thin slices

• Juice of 2 limes

• Juice of ½ an orange

• 2 tomatoes (grated or blended)

• 1tbsp of oil

• Coriander to taste

• Salt to taste

To serve: Plantain chips or popcorn.

Method

1. Place the thinly sliced red onion in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon and cover with water. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to remove some of the sharpness of raw onion.

2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring some water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt followed by the prawns and fish., Cook for about 3 minutes, remove the prawns and fish from the water and leave them aside to cool. Reserve about 1 cup of the water.

3. Mix the orange and lemon juices with the tomatoes, oil and about 2 tbsp of the water you used to cook the prawns in. Tasty and adjust seasonings to taste.

4. Remove the onion from the water and add to the tomato mix along with the seafood.

5. Garnish with coriander and serve.