Recipes from the
Galapagos Islands
My
host in Isabela didn't cook much more than me. We bonded
instantly. We also ate out a lot together. One day, I felt like
I had to have ceviche. It was such a miserably hot day and a
cold dish sounded just like the right item to help cool things down.
It's my understanding that ceviche can have raw fish or cooked fish. I have no idea if my fish was raw or cooked. I do know that if I had my choice, I wouldn't eat anything raw. Ceviche can have other sea food. Best option in my mind is shrimp. Worst option, never to be had again (Notice the word again. I had it.) is pulpo. Now, if you don't know what pulpo is, it sounds innocent enough. But, if you do know what it is, and I do, there is nothing innocent about octopus. If that isn't slippery and slimy enough, I'm fairly sure my octopus was raw.
I won't go into any details about the pain I went through after eating raw octopus. My insides started to rumble and that's all the details you need to know. However, octopus, raw or otherwise, is on my list of foods never to eat again. I almost added ceviche to the list too. However, I gave it another chance. It really is good without octopus.
(Later, in talking to a friend who cooks much more than me, I learned about ceviche and raw fish. It isn't heat cooked. If you cut the fish in small pieces the lemon juice will acid cook the fish. So, it really isn't raw. Whew! But, lemon juice still leaves it right next to "raw" in my mind.)
Take your fish (that is only going to be acid cooked) and cut it in to bite sized pieces. Place it in a bowl and pour your combination of juices over it. If, like me, you never heard of sour (or Seville) oranges, I'm sure it's fine to add more lemon juice. Next, add the salt, pepper and vinegar. Toss it all in the refrigerator for six hours, leaving you lots of time to clean up in the kitchen.
Pour boiling water over the onions and then drain them. Add the onions, tomato, garlic, cayenne pepper and cilantro to the fish mixture. Refrigerate everything over night.
Now, if you want to serve it with an Ecuadorian flare, place your bowl of ceviche on a plate and then scatter fried banana (actually plantain) chips around the rest of the plate. It adds that extra wow effect.
In a glass bowl, place the shrimp, lemon juice, hot pepper, diced onion, salt, and olive oil. Marinate the mixture for eight hours.
One recipe suggested adding about half a cup of mustard. I'm including it as an option, but it's probably an option I'll never do.
Now, for the wow effect, again you need to scatter banana chips all over your plate. But, you also really need to hang a few shrimp over the edge of the bowl.
It's my understanding that ceviche can have raw fish or cooked fish. I have no idea if my fish was raw or cooked. I do know that if I had my choice, I wouldn't eat anything raw. Ceviche can have other sea food. Best option in my mind is shrimp. Worst option, never to be had again (Notice the word again. I had it.) is pulpo. Now, if you don't know what pulpo is, it sounds innocent enough. But, if you do know what it is, and I do, there is nothing innocent about octopus. If that isn't slippery and slimy enough, I'm fairly sure my octopus was raw.
I won't go into any details about the pain I went through after eating raw octopus. My insides started to rumble and that's all the details you need to know. However, octopus, raw or otherwise, is on my list of foods never to eat again. I almost added ceviche to the list too. However, I gave it another chance. It really is good without octopus.
(Later, in talking to a friend who cooks much more than me, I learned about ceviche and raw fish. It isn't heat cooked. If you cut the fish in small pieces the lemon juice will acid cook the fish. So, it really isn't raw. Whew! But, lemon juice still leaves it right next to "raw" in my mind.)
Ceviche
Isabela, Galapagos Islands
Isabela, Galapagos Islands
|
2
lbs whitefish or tuna
2
cups of juice (6 limes)
3
lemons,
3 sour oranges
4
tsp salt
¾
tsp black pepper
¼
cup vinegar |
2
medium onions, sliced 1 medium tomato, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced pinch of cayenne pepper 2 Tbs chopped cilantro |
Take your fish (that is only going to be acid cooked) and cut it in to bite sized pieces. Place it in a bowl and pour your combination of juices over it. If, like me, you never heard of sour (or Seville) oranges, I'm sure it's fine to add more lemon juice. Next, add the salt, pepper and vinegar. Toss it all in the refrigerator for six hours, leaving you lots of time to clean up in the kitchen.
Pour boiling water over the onions and then drain them. Add the onions, tomato, garlic, cayenne pepper and cilantro to the fish mixture. Refrigerate everything over night.
Now, if you want to serve it with an Ecuadorian flare, place your bowl of ceviche on a plate and then scatter fried banana (actually plantain) chips around the rest of the plate. It adds that extra wow effect.
Shrimp
Ceviche
Isabela, Galapagos Islands
Isabela, Galapagos Islands
|
2
pounds of shrimp
Juice
from 10 lemons
1
hot pepper, chopped
|
1
large, diced onion 1 tsp salt ½ cup olive oil |
Place
the raw shrimp in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rejoice in
the fact that it's going to be heat cooked as well as acid
cooked. Remove the shrimp from the boiling water and place
in cold water immediately. Now, it's time to remove the
shells, clean the shrimp, and snack on as few of the shrimp as
humanly possible.
In a glass bowl, place the shrimp, lemon juice, hot pepper, diced onion, salt, and olive oil. Marinate the mixture for eight hours.
One recipe suggested adding about half a cup of mustard. I'm including it as an option, but it's probably an option I'll never do.
Now, for the wow effect, again you need to scatter banana chips all over your plate. But, you also really need to hang a few shrimp over the edge of the bowl.