Summer used to be something I really enjoyed. Upper 70s, gentle breeze, not a cloud in the sky; things were great growing up in Portland. But once I ventured out of my homeland, I realized that Summer isn't always the sweet, sweet experience I had always known. Virginia had nothing but humidity; muggy days and humid nights with loud cicadas. And then California? Woof.
The first summer I spent in California, it was considered a "mild' summer. That is to say, most days stayed under 100 degrees. That being said, my office's air conditioner didn't really hit my desk, and most days I'd come home in a moist mess. A pleasant thought, I know. But then came more summers, where there were so many days above 100; I remember the few days where it was 114 at my house. The AC couldn't keep up, so you'd be "cool" inside your 85-degree house. Fun times.
What I'm getting at is that there are some times when you are going to be wondering why ovens exist. Or stoves, grills, or any sort of cooking apparatus. They will seem so unnecessary, so arrogant to be adding heat into the space, that you'll decide that starving is a smarter option. Or switching to an all-beer diet. But worry not, comrade! I have something just for you.
Ceviche is a pretty interesting little dish. Traditionally speaking, it consists of raw fish or seafood, which is left to cure in citrus. Ceviche is very different, depending on where you go; Peru is known for their own version with sea bass; Chileans traditionally use halibut or Patagonian Toothfish. Many preparations have peppers, onions, herbs, spices, etc.
Since there are so many regional variations on the "cook the fish with acid" method, I'm fine calling this a ceviche. It is not a traditional version, but to me definition of ceviche matters more on the methodology, instead of the ingredients. I just make an idiot-proof version that won't run any chance of getting you sick. Because trust me, I'm dumb enough to get myself sick.
Please don't use the wrong ingredients.
Raw fish is used in a ceviche, which is bathed in citrus juice. The acid in the citrus denatures the protein in the fish, causing it to firm up and become opaque; it looks like it's been cooked. But 'cooked' isn't really the right term -- it's been denatured. Cooking requires heat. The concern with preparations like this is that yes, you are able to kill some bacteria with the citrus, not all of it is killed; thus, it's very important that if you do use fish, it's fresh, from somewhere you trust, or has been previously frozen. Think of your standard 'sushi grade' stuff. CHOW has a great article on explaining this a little bit better than I do. No matter how you do it, you'll get a tasty, salsa-esque item that goes amazingly on some chips on a hot day.
This is a pretty easy recipe. If you're familiar with your knife, and are well-acquainted with how to quickly chop, dice, etc., you can have this ready in less than 20 minutes. Let the flavors meld for a couple hours in the fridge, and you're ready to go! You'll need the following:
Time to raid the produce section, I guess?
~1 lb shrimp (precooked is easier to use, but probably less flavorful)
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 of a red onion
1 mango
3 limes
Lemon juice
1 jalapeno (serrano, if you want more spice)
1/2 of a medium-sized cucumber
3 small avocados
Cayenne
Oregano
Salt/Pepper (I used Mexican seasoning salt)
Garlic would be nice too, but I forgot it.
We're going to start by getting our cilantro ready. Get out a medium-sized mixing bowl, and get ready to fill that bad boy up. Take about a third of a bunch of cilantro, and lay it on your cutting board. In most cases, I'd tell you to do some fancy knifework, but cilantro doesn't really lend itself to any tricks. I've heard you can use a pizza cutter to slice through, but that is a little weird. I make sure I have a nice, sharp knife, and just hack it down. If you like lots of cilantro, cut more. I'm not a huge fan, so I keep it light.
See? Easy. you've got the hang of this!
Add the cilantro to your bowl, and let's pull those shrimp out and get them ready.
I'm lazy, so I got precooked shrimp. They were about as mediocre as I expected.
With the shrimp, you have a few options, here. I bought precooked shrimp. Though it made the preparation much easier, I wasn't really thrilled with the flavor. I would recommend getting some deveined, raw shrimp, and then steaming them or grilling them before adding to this. It's going to give a better "shrimpy" flavor, whereas mine just added to the texture. Mine was still good, but it wasn't the best I've made. So, think about ease versus flavor, and make the call. Once you've got your shrimp, though, cut them into pieces about the size of your last pinky finger's digit, or maybe a little bigger. Remember, you're going to be putting this on chips.
Apparently my little finger is a perfect size guide. Weird.
Once all of your shrimp are chopped up, throw them into the bowl. If you're trying to reduce your kitchen waste, here's a sweet idea; save your tails. They make great stock! I have a bag of shrimp shells and tails in the freezer at all times to add to stock or water to flavor it more. Or, hey, just throw them out. It's your call.
Now we'll seed and dice a jalapeno. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this, heed my words: always remember to thoroughly clean your hands, or wear gloves. It seems like every single time I cut one of these, it takes me about 3 minutes to forget and rub my eye, or scratch my nose. Or pee. And then it all goes downhill from there. If you're handling the ribs and seeds, expect to have a fiery experience in your future. First, you're going to lightly cut through the top flesh. Don't just hack it off; cut a ring into the pepper, separating only the outside cheeks.
Easy does it!
Once you manage to not cut the thing in half, as I've done before, you're going to want to grab the stem, and give it a gentle twist. This should break the core free, and the whole thing should come back out with minimal seeds ribs, etc. on the pepper you're going to actually use. If you like a hot ceviche, you could just hack this whole thing up.
Perfect!
Look at that! All the light-colored flesh and seeds are where the heat comes from. So be careful, and you'll be fine. If you manhandle it, make sure you clean your hands and get it off. Because it'll sting.
Flawless. Le'ts cut this thing up.
Once you're done marveling at the inside of a jalapeno ("GUYS, LOOK AT HOW SKILLED I AM MOM WOULD BE SO PROUD OH WOW JEEZ WTG TEAM"), you're going to hack off the cheeks, and then cut them into strips, which you will dice.
Cheeks. That's what they're called. Cut these into thin strips.
Ever wondered how you get those tiny, perfect dices of jalapenos on burgers and stuff? Some poor sap cuts them. And today, you get to walk in his shoes. And touch the peppers. And let your eyes burn (Can you see a theme here? Protect or remember that you've touched hot peppers.).
A word on knife skills. You should always hold your knuckles against a knife while doing things like this. Why? Because you're bound to screw up once, and cut your fingertip off. I know. I know! "This will never happen to me!" That is absolutely wrong! I did this a year ago while mincing herbs for some burgers. Thought I was hot shit. Didn't think I needed to do it right. Then, WHAM -- cut my fingertip off.
I had to go to urgent care and have it sealed off, and it may have been the most physically painful thing I've done.. We couldn't recover the tip and all that. So now my nail and finger is a little lopsided, it feels funny sometimes, and I have a good story. Anyway, back to cutting things that should be cut.
See? This is much smarter, and shows how this protects your fingers.
Cut your strips, and then take those strips, and make little tiny squares with your next cut. Easy!
"Little boxes, little boxes..."
Get your peppers into the bowl, and let's grab some mango. A lot of people don't know the easy way to get the flesh out of a mango. First, you're going to want to cut around the pit. It's a giant, flat seed in the middle. So you'll want to cut a disc out of the mango that had the pit, and cut what flesh you can from its sides.
Cut on the sides of that pit to get rid of it. You won't be exact, and it doesn't matter.
Once you've got the cheeks, the big sides you lopped off, you're going to get a drinking glass, and you'll slip the end of the peel over the edge, while the flesh will be inside the glass. This sounds crazy, but I like it better than the grid-cutting method most people use.
Slllllip!
Once you get them a little separate, you can basically push the mango down the side of the glass, and it'll remove probably 90% of the flesh. Very little loss, and you'll love how little time you took.
Sliiiiide!
Almooooost!
Once it's off, you can dice those up into small pieces. lovely! Now add all of that delicious mango (and any juices) to your bowl.
Tadaaaaa!
Now get your cucumber, and cut it into half. Take one of the halves, and put it away. You won't need it for this. Take your remaining half, and half it again. Scoop out the seeds (they make this watery. Gross), and then dice it up like your mango. Using the same method at the pepper might be wise, too!
You could also fill these with cream cheese or something. I don't know, figure it out.
Take your onion, and use that grid method we use all the time, and get a pretty even dice from it. We're only going to use about half of the thing. Add it to the bowl.
If you haven't mastered this yet, I'm going to keep giving you chances to use it. Learn it!
Get your avocados, pull out the pit, and cut a grid into them. You'll want a little bit larger cut here than other things, just because if your avocado gets too small, it disintegrates into this awful goop.
Slice!
Once you've got your dice, put it over the bowl, and squeeze the thing. The pieces should fall out fairly easily. If they're a little tougher, coax them with a spoon, finger, or whatever you've got around.
Squeeeeze!
Once this is done, add a few shakes of salt, oregano, and some cayenne over the thing. Mix thoroughly. Now, let's get some citrus on it all. Get your citrus to be room temperature (you should store them on the counter, anyway!), And give them a good roll. This will break some of the cells on the inside, and make it easier to extract the juices. Give it some real pressure, but don't pop the thing. I've made that mistake before.
Press and roll. Easy.
Jam a citrus reamer in the thing, and well, ream it. Rotate the tool and apply pressure, making sure you get as much of the juice out as possible. If you're lazy, you can always buy juice and use it, but that's silly. Just do this, and it'll be much better.
Pictured: Reamer, reaming.
You'll want around 2/3 cup of juice. If you're shy from 3 limes, I'd add some lemon juice to make up for it. But you'll want mostly lime juice.
It doesn't need to be exact, Einstein. Just get it done.
Once you get the juice, pour it into the thing, and give it all a few sturdy mixes.
"I don't know what he means by 'sturdy', so I'll just mix is regularly.
Once you've got it together, you're going to probably want to eat the whole bowl. Seriously. But, you need to check for seasoning, first! Get a chip, and dig in. I encourage to test with chips, since they already have salt on them -- you don't want this to be too salty. You might have to "try a few, just to make sure". You know, because you won't be able to try just one.
A couple test-chips never killed anyone. Unless they were testing out of the bowl I was eating.
Does it need more salt? Some oregano? Cayenne? Garlic? add your spices where you think it needs some tweaking. It shouldn't be soupy; it'll be like a really chunky salsa. Throw that thing in the fridge for a few hours, so the flavors can develop. More liquid will leave the ingredients, and it just needs a good stir to get to chowing down. Make sure to cover it with plastic wrap when you sock it in, and you'll be fine. It will last for a few days, but hey -- it won't last that long.
I truly love this recipe. It's got a little heat, tons of flavor, and is a nice, cool meal or snack to have on those dog days of summer. It's a recipe that easily doubles, and is probably something you could take to a potluck or party, and impress whoever you're with. I mean, who isn't impressed when someone shows up with a bunch of shrimp, avocados, and tasty ingredients? If I could snack on this every day, I just might. Serve with cold beer and old friends, and it'll definitely be a winner.
Enjoy! -AC
Mango Shrimp Ceviche
Recipe from Scott McDonald (Average Cook)
Serves 4-8, or one very greedy (smart) man.
1 lb shrimp
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1/2 medium cucumber, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 medium mango, diced
3 small avocados, largely diced
Salt/Cayenne/Oregano/Garlic to taste
Prepare shrimp as necessary; must be cooked. Cut shrimp into 3/4" pieces, and add to medium mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients, and mix. Add a few shakes of salt, cayenne, oregano, and garlic (if wanted). Combine and test with tortilla chip. Adjust seasoning as needed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, and up to 6 hours. Remove plastic wrap and stir, serve.
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