Snapper Ceviche with Cucumber and Seaweed
The hallmark of Peruvian leche de tigre (“tiger’s milk”) ceviches is their umami, which smooths out the harshness of the fresh lime juice that “cooks” the fish. Tiger’s milk is a savory, milky broth made by simmering fish bones and trimmings with aromatics and blending that with some of the trimmings, plus a little lime juice and salt. Most home cooks don’t have easy access to fish bones, so we came up with a analogous method that inspired by Japan: Use dashi in place of tiger’s milk to smooth out the lime in a ceviche and add umami. The advantage is that dashi can be made in about 10 minutes, and you can freeze the rest or use it to make quick miso soups at lunchtime.
READ: It’s the summer of ceviche! Here’s how to mastermind a great one
READ: Summer of Ceviche, Part 2: Two ways to let umami take your ceviches to the next level
We also also borrowed a trick for making raw onions less harsh from Ecuadorian ceviche tradition called desflemado. To do this, toss sliced onions with salt, cover with hot water, let it sit 5 minutes, drain and rinse. Voilà: softer-tasting onions.
Finally, because we looked to Japan for the umami inspiration, and because there’s a long tradition of Japanese influence on Peruvian cooking — what’s referred to as Nikkei cuisine — we thought it would be fun to push that a bit, include wakame seaweed and finish it with furikake — a Japanese seasoning mix made with sesame seeds, nori, salt and peppers. Cucumbers are at home in both Latin America and Japan, so including them made sense as well. We loved the result.
We used red snapper from the Gulf for this ceviche; you could also use sea bass or other firm-fleshed white fish.
Note about the safety of raw fish
FDA guidelines stipulate that any fish other than tuna species (including bigeye, yellowfin, bonito/skipjack and bluefin) and farmed salmon must be frozen before it’s safe to consume raw; freezing it kills any possible parasites. However, as this excellent Serious Eats article explains, the risk of infection from raw fish is very low. Personally, I would never eat raw farmed salmon, because of well documented problems in their feed (and I don’t like their flavor.) The phrase “sushi-grade” is meaningless. If you’re nervous about the safety of eating raw fish, it’s best to choose something that’s been frozen.
Serves 6.
Ingredients
2 ounces / 56 grams red onion (about 1/4 of a smallish onion), sliced vertically into thin slivers
2 1/3 teaspoons salt (divided)
1 teaspoon wakame (dried seaweed)
3 ounces / 88 ml dashi
2/3 cup / 158 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
1 pound / 454 grams red snapper, cut into bite-sized cubes (about 1/3 inch / 8 mm)
1 serrano chile, cut in half at an angle
1 Persian cucumber, sliced thin
Furikake for finishing (optional)
Instructions
1. Place the onion slices in a small bowl, toss with 1 teaspoon of the salt and cover with warm water. Let sit 5 minutes, then drain and rinse with water. Set aside.
2. While the onion is soaking, reconstitute the wakame: Place it in a bowl, cover with cold water and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes. It will hydrate and grow impressively in size. Drain the wakame, and cut it into 1/3-inch / 8 mm ribbons. Set aside.
3. Add the dashi and the remaining 1 1/3 teaspoons salt to the lime juice and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a medium bowl, add the snapper, the wakame and the two pieces of serrano chile, and stir to combine, making sure all the fish is submerged. Let the fish “cook” in the liquid, stirring now and then, for 15 to 20 minutes — until the fish is as “cooked” as you like it. Pay attention to how spicy it is; when it’s as spicy as you want it, fish out the two pieces of serrano. Just before it’s done, add the cucumbers and onion. Taste and adjust seasoning. (Note: If you finish with furikake, that will add a bit of salt.)
4. Use a slotted spoon to divide the ceviche between six plates, then pour a little of the soaking liquid over each. Finish with the furikake, if desired.
Snapper Ceviche with Cucumber and Seaweed
Ingredients
- 2 ounces / 56 grams red onion (about 1/4 of a smallish onion), sliced vertically into thin slivers
- 2 1/3 teaspoons salt (divided)
- 1 teaspoon wakame (dried seaweed)
- 3 ounces / 88 ml dashi
- 2/3 cup / 158 ml freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 pound / 454 grams red snapper, cut into bite-sized cubes (about 1/3 inch / 8 mm)
- 1 serrano chile, cut in half at an angle
- 1 Persian cucumber, sliced thin
- Furikake for finishing (optional)
Instructions
- Place the onion slices in a small bowl, toss with 1 teaspoon of the salt and cover with warm water. Let sit 5 minutes, then drain and rinse with water. Set aside.
- While the onion is soaking, reconstitute the wakame: Place it in a bowl, cover with cold water and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes. It will hydrate and grow impressively in size. Drain the wakame, and cut it into 1/3-inch / 8 mm ribbons. Set aside.
- Add the dashi and the remaining 1 1/3 teaspoons salt to the lime juice and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a medium bowl, add the snapper, the wakame and the two pieces of serrano chile, and stir to combine, making sure all the fish is submerged. Let the fish “cook” in the liquid, stirring now and then, for 15 to 20 minutes — until the fish is as “cooked” as you like it. Pay attention to how spicy it is; when it’s as spicy as you want it, fish out the two pieces of serrano. Just before it’s done, add the cucumbers and onion. Taste and adjust seasoning. (Note: If you finish with furikake, that will add a bit of salt.)
- Use a slotted spoon to divide the ceviche between six plates, then pour a little of the soaking liquid over each. Finish with the furikake, if desired.
