Plate it UP!

Peru is known for its ceviche; Northern Peru is where you come for the very best ceviche. The credit goes to the limes. Northern Peru is where the best, most potent limones are grown and they give the ceviche here a really flavorful, delicious taste. I didn't like it when I first had it, but it has really grown on me since I have been here. So much so, I have been really excited to try and make it. The opportunity finally arose recently.

Every month Tony and I set up a skype date to have dinner with each other usually to celebrate our monthiversary (insert cute sighs/disgusted grunts here). This month, I made ceviche. And I thought it might be fun to include a Peruvian cooking lesson in here in addition to my wanderings and experiences.

Raw ingredients!

Here is what you will need (4 servings):
1/4kilo white fish (Tilapia is good)
1/4kilo raw shrimp (optional - add more fish if you don't use shrimp)
1/4kilo yuca (Latin American potato of sorts)
1/kilo sweet potato
1/2 onion
1/4 Cancha (recipe for Cancha is at the bottom)
1tbs diced jalapeno (we use a spicy orange pepper here called aji escabeche)
1tbs chopped fresh cilantro
5 limes (this is a guess bc the limes here are much smaller so we use more, enough to get all the fish mostly covered)
salt and pepper to taste


Step 1: Cut onions and combine with jalapeno
*Cut onions in strips (don't dice)

Step 2: Boil water; place yuca and sweet potato in the boiling water with a bit of salt
*You can throw the sweet potato in with the skin, but you need to peel the yuca and put the white fleshy part to boil

Step 3: Cut fish into small bite sized pieces; shell shrimp

Step 4: Squeeze limes over seafood

Step 5: Mix together onion mixture, seafood, and cilantro; add salt and pepper to taste
*Here we just eat it right away, but I think that is because the limes here are more acidic. What I have found online is that with American limes you need to let it sit overnight or longer (it's worth it).

 

Step 6:  Make the Cancha!

*It is a special white corn (sometimes called Chulpe) that is large and doesn't pop like movie popcorn

*Heat up a thin layer of oil in a small pan, add the corn, cover it, and shake it around on top of the burner (it will pop, just not into a fluffy white thing). Once it looks nice and brown its done.

Step 7: Plate! 

*Cut the yuca into parts and the sweet potato into slices and place them on the top of the plate, with the ceviche in the middle and the cancha on the other side.

Our sweet potatoes are purple.

Since you need to let the ceviche sit a night/day you can do the potatoes, yuca and cancha when you are ready to eat it or before like above. Personally, I like them all a little cooler because the fish is cool from being in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Paz y amor,

Daniela