Ceviche

OCmike · Post by **OCmike** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:55 pm

Just finished whipping up a kickass batch of Super Mikey Ceviche this afternoon. There's about a thousand ways to cook this goose...here's how I do mine:

1 lb shelled, deveined, cooked, medium (50-60 count) shrimp
1 lb imitation crab meat
2 bunches of chopped cilantro
8 roma tomatoes
1 bunch chopped green onions (green part only)
1 jalapeno (seeded)
2 large ripe avacados
5 limes
salt and pepper
sour cream
tostadas

Chop everything ('cept the limes) into a 1/4" dice and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste (several good shakes of each). Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice over the ceviche. Allow to sit for at least 1 hour prior to eating...overnight is even better.

Spread sour cream on the tostada, pile on the ceviche and chow down.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:30 pm

Nice little recipe there.

Let me add a little and show what I'd do to change it up a bit:

1. I'd use lump blue crab meat instead of initation crab which is loaded with sugar. It's readily available in the seafood section.

2. Don't see that jalapeno and use 2 of them.

3. Throw in 2 T of cumin

Follow dat...and dat'll be some DAMN good ceviche.

OCmike · Post by **OCmike** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:45 am

I use the imitation crab meat just to keep the cost down a bit when I'm making a big batch.

I seed the jalapeno for the OL, not for me. I like the heat, but she tends to be a wuss.

I'll give the cumin a shot next time.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:57 pm

You won't regret the cumin. I put it in my salsa and people just love it. Not to go Rachel Ray, but they always say stuff like, "Hmm....what IS that?"

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:42 pm

Never made ceviche, but this sounds good.

The stuff I've had from fish markets, etc. always seems to have some sort of white fish (not shrimp or "krab"). Maybe red snapper, halibut or something.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:16 pm

Mikey,

You are correct. The traditional ceviche recipe calls for fish, but I have had it plenty of times with crab. A lot of people who don't like "fishy" tasting things put crab and shrimp in it.

I've actually made it before with shrimp and raw ahi tuna. DOn't make a lot of it at once as it will go bad rather quick. I loves me some ahi tuna though...

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:01 pm

I love ahi also, but I hate the stuff that is artifically colored. Lately I've been having some nice Tombo...almost purplish in color, and very soft...melts in your mouth.

Thanks for the recipes, I'm going to try this with some jumbo lump crabmeat and salmon.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 3:23 pm

Here's something I make occasionally. I had me some when in Hawaii years ago. It's called poke, or poki (po'-kay), and there are many ways of making it out of different things - ahi, octopus, etc. This is ahi poke.

I don't have any measurements, as it is all done to taste. Here are the ingredients:

Sashimi grade ahi
Soy sauce, pref. good quality tamari sauce
Green onions (scallions)
Sesame oil
Ogo nori (Hawaiian seaweed)
Wasabi paste

Cut the ahi into 1/4" to 1/2" chunks.

Mix the wasabi into a small amount of soy sauce so it's more like liquid than a paste. This way it mixes into the poke better. If you have powdered wasabi, mix with a little water to make paste first.

Add enough soy sauce to the fish to coat. Add a few dashes of sesame oil and mix. Add some of the wasabi mixture (optional), a little at a time until you have just enough. Chop up the scallions and ogo and mix in.

Serve immediately or refrigerate in glass or plastic container for up to a few hours.

Ogo nori is a green, threadlike seaweed. It's best if you can get it fresh, but I don't know where to get it that way. There's a little oriental market that I can get Japanese ogo packed in sea salt. You just have to rinse it well and it's fine. Other kinds of seaweed would work too, but don't leave it out, it adds a defining flavor and texture to the finished product.

This stuff is awesome. I have to get my share before the kids get to it because they will eat as much as I make. Even the OL likes this stuff, and she very rarely likes anything "different".

OCmike · Post by **OCmike** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 8:50 pm

Mikey wrote:Never made ceviche, but this sounds good.

The stuff I've had from fish markets, etc. always seems to have some sort of white fish (not shrimp or "krab"). Maybe red snapper, halibut or something.

Most "ceviche" that you will get from markets is nothing more than fish or shrimp with a tub of pico de gallo tossed on.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 10:25 pm

OCmike wrote:
Mikey wrote:Never made ceviche, but this sounds good.

The stuff I've had from fish markets, etc. always seems to have some sort of white fish (not shrimp or "krab"). Maybe red snapper, halibut or something.
Most "ceviche" that you will get from markets is nothing more than fish or shrimp with a tub of pico de gallo tossed on.

Isn't that pretty much what your recipe is (with some avos added)?

OCmike · Post by **OCmike** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 9:01 pm

You take that back!!! :D

Their pico is ususally just some mushy roma tomatoes and some onion. Mine is much more refined than that.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 11:53 pm

I got some pretty good ceviche yesterday at the farmers' market here in Vista. It was made with crab and halibut and was heavy on the maui onions and not many tomatoes. Pretty good, not great.

Also scored some skin-on Hawaiian opakapaka fillets, which I grilled for dinner last night. A lot of fish will fall apart if you try to grill fillets directly, but the guy selling it said that this fish would hold up well. It came out great, with nothing stuck to the grill.

Improvised a salad which included chunks of peaches (got some outstanding fruit at the store yesterday), Reed avocados and pickling cucumber slices tossed in a light balsamic vinaigrette. Served on a small bed of greens with some heirloom tomato slices around it. This was unexpectedly tasty, with the sweetness of the peaches perfectly offsetting the vinaigrette.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 3:08 am

We "subscribe" to a small farm. For $200 a year (over a period of 5 months), they weekly deliver fresh produce to a house near ours, we pick up a box full of great fresh stuff. The last shipment included some of those pickling cukes, they were tremendous.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:24 am

We have a few of those around here but they all seem to be completely subscribed. So, I need to go to the farmers' market to get good local produce.

I discovered the pickling cukes years ago and since then will not use the "normal" ones unless I have to.