Sunday, July 26, 2009

Ceviche

Here's another recipe from Capt. Billy Trimble (above right). This one is for Ceviche which is typically fish "cooked" in an acidic bath of fresh, unprocessed citrus juice. Here's what the captain has to say about this dish, "One of my favorite summer time meals is Ceviche, and one of the best fish to use for Ceviche is Black Drum. The flesh of the Black Drum is perfect for the dish as it is white, flaky and not oily. It will not turn to mush like the flesh of a speckled trout and is not as tough as redfish. Ceviche is very simple to make as it requires no stove, only time."

INGREDIENTS
Black Drum fillets, 1 dozen medium shrimp, lots of limes, 1 orange, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, Tabasco, cilantro, jalapeños, bird peppers, green olives, capers, half of an onion

NOTES
If you can't get Black Drum fillets then Red Snapper, Striped Bass or Flounder can serve as an alternate. When working with saltwater fish never let fresh water touch the flesh of the fish until just before the cooking process begins. Instead of the first cleansing lime juice rinse you can pour steaming (not boiling) hot water over the fish and shrimp through a strainer. If you want a milder version of this recipe then substitute a red bell pepper instead of the hot pepper varieties.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Step One - Begin with the fillets of a fresh Black Drum and about a dozen medium sized shrimp, deveined. Rinse fish fillets and shrimp with fresh water. Cube drum fillets and shrimp into a glass bowl then cover with fresh squeezed lime juice and set aside in the fridge for about an hour. Drain the lime juice off of the fish/shrimp, it is now ready to be combined with the other ingredients.

Step Two - Medium fine dice a half of an onion, devein and dice 2 jalapeños, bird peppers, chop a handful of green olives, chop a bunch of cilantro and add a liberal amount of capers. Add salt, pepper and a couple of dashes of Tabasco and olive oil then stir together.

Step Three - Squeeze the juice of one orange, then enough lime juice to cover the fish. Cover and set in fridge for at least 4 hours.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS
Photo 1 - Black Drum fillets with boat fresh shrimp and other ingredients.

Photo 2 - Drum fillets and shrimp cubed and ready.

Photo 3 - Fish and shrimp covered in lime juice for the first time.

Photo 4 - Deveined jalapeños and bird peppers ready to dice.

Photo 5 - Diced ingredients combined with drained fish and shrimp ready for lime/orange juice.

Photo 6 - Bon Apetite

Captain Billy suggests pairing this Ceviche recipe with either Mexican beer, full bodied white or light red wine. He likes to serve organic blue corn chips and sliced avocado on the side.

Top photo by M. Thompson Recipe photos by Billy Trimble

7 comments:

schnitzerPHOTO said...

Simple and perfect. I want nothing else but this ceviche this evening, but, being in the middle of Wyoming, it'll have to wait. In ceviche, there is no substitute for fresh!

Anonymous said...

I just had the pleasure of helping the Capt. prepare this very dish. The Black Drum were not cooperating like the big one in the photo, so we substituted Redfish. I have made ceviche, and I have eaten many versions of it, but this takes the prize. Wait till you see the next recipe he has up his sleeve. mt

El Pescador said...

You are correct Russ, fresh is the only way to go with Ceviche. I'll try to get some recipes in the future that will work for you in WY.

jeremy said...

Awesome!!! I was just looking for a recipe for this last week. When I was down in Mexico .. I got turned on to Ceviche (Mahi Mahi) and I couldn't stop eating it. So, so good. What kinds of fish (other than the ones you mentioned) are good for Ceviche and what kinds aren't. Thanks for the great post.

Anonymous said...

I used to love having fresh ceviche prepared by Peruvians down in Miami...thanks for throwing up the recipe, now I just have to find some fresh fish out west.

El Pescador said...

Here's a site loaded with Ceviche recipes - http://www.cevicherecipe.org/. There are recipes that use shrimp, sea bass, scallops, octopus, clams, crab and more.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the the link. It'll be good to get some fresh ceviche in the belly.