Hot balmy Sundays call for cool, zesty ceviche in my opinion, and that’s exactly what I put together for lunch yesterday when the inspiration hit me after browsing through the January Gourmet Traveller magazine. There’s something so utterly refreshing about ceviche, especially when paired with an ice cold beer. It also doubles as a wicked hangover cure – I put it down to the lime and chilli, they worked wonders on the boy yesterday.

Ceviche, for those who haven’t yet ventured there, is seafood cooked by the acidity in citrus and in this case, lime juice. It’s simple, quick and easy to make, with the only slightly technical part being your knife skills – cutting thin and delicate pieces of fish. It’s such a wonderful dish and I always find myself ordering it on menus whenever I see it. However this is actually the first time I have put the dish together at home – and it was a massive win! I surprised myself and didn’t give us food poisoning – epic win!

The key to this is the fish – buy good quality, fresh fish that you know has only just come into the store. I was a bit fussy when ordering mine at the fish market, not afraid of asking when the fish had actually come in. It has to be super fresh, or it just won’t work. Pink snapper is expensive and I think you can taste why as soon as you bite into it, so while this can be a pricey dish, its made excusable by the quality of  the fish – it seriously is delicious.

The lime infused, cooked fish works so well with the mango and green chilli,  a balanced combination of salty, sour and sweet. It’s absolute bliss.

Serves 4

The list:

500g pink snapper, thinly sliced

2 limes, juiced

1 lime, quartered

1 ripe but firm mango, diced

1/4 Spanish onion, finely diced

2 long green chillies, thinly sliced

Coconut cream, for drizzling

Coriander leaves, to serve

 

The method:

1. Combine snapper in a bowl with lime juice and refrigerated until fish turns opaque (10-15 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, combine mango, onion and chilli in a bowl, season to taste and set aside.
3. Arrange snapper on a serving plate and season to taste with salt (leave behind the lime juice it cooked in). Drizzle with a tiny bit of coconut cream and scatter mango and chilli mix over the top, finishing with coriander leaves. Serve immediately alongside some extra lime wedges.

Enjoy!

*Recipe sourced from Gourmet Traveller January 2013 edition