← Nouns Cooking · Mexican

Ingredients

• 450 g very fresh, sushi-grade white fish (sea bass, snapper or sierra), finely chopped
• 250 ml fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Carrot, finely grated
• 1 white onion, finely diced
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 Cucumber, diced
• 2 serrano chillies, finely chopped
• 1 handful Coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
• 60 ml Orange juice
• 12 tostada shells
• 1 Avocado, sliced

Method

1. Put the chopped fish in a glass bowl with the salt and pour over enough lime juice to cover. Stir, cover and refrigerate for 30–45 min, stirring once, until the fish is opaque all the way through.
2. Tip the fish into a sieve and press out the excess lime juice.
3. Return it to the bowl and mix in the carrot, onion, tomato, cucumber, serranos and coriander.
4. Stir in the orange juice and a squeeze of fresh lime and taste for salt.
5. Pile onto tostadas, top with avocado and serve straight away with hot sauce.

Tips

• Lime juice firms and whitens the fish but doesn’t make it safe the way heat does: use sushi-grade fish from a trusted fishmonger, keep it cold and eat the ceviche the same day.
• Some cooks rest the fish for less time so the centre stays a little translucent.
• Raw, citrus-cured fish is best avoided by anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or with weakened immunity; poach the fish briefly first for them.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Maricruz Avalos Rick Bayless