The Yum Yum Factor

Oh, I do love a challenge. An upcoming pop up was going to require a vegetarian option as a main to go alongside my Octopus Aguachile and Asian Shrimp with Spicy Ponzu and I was really hitting a wall. I wanted something just as fresh and summery and light but how in the hell do you make a dish that is synonymous with raw seafood without seafood in it? I set out to make a vegan ceviche because it should really be a thing but it felt like I was fighting a losing battle for a while because nothing was going to be able to replace the shrimp/fish component. It just sounds impossible, right? WRONG I tried a lot of different ingredients to sub in for the shrimp or fish and nothing was working. All of the bean alternatives tasted too beany. Tofu's texture was all wrong and I thought of doing jackfruit but that really works well for pulled pork and pulled pork ceviche is not something anyone wants to eat so I didn't even bother with that one. I was about to throw in th...

If you like ceviche, you are going to love aguachile.  A true aguachile (chile water) from the Sinaloa region of Mexico, at it's most basic, is made by pouring a spicy puree of chiles and water over raw shrimp, some red onion, radish and cucumber. From there, people add cilantro, lime juice and more but, unlike ceviche, you are going to eat it when the shrimp are still pretty raw - sort of like a spicy, Mexican shrimp sashimi. This requires ridiculously fresh, sushi grade seafood and since that is not always available to us, I like to use cooked seafood (or, you can marinate the raw shrimp/fish in lime juice for an hour or so in advance as you would for a traditional ceviche before adding the aguachile for serving). If you don't like octopus, you can substitute any seafood you like - if you don't want to eat it raw, cook it lightly beforehand. I am not sure I would use $$$ sushi grade tuna, for example, only because its so expensive and this sauce is very s...

this version was topped with a bit of red onion and more sesame seeds  It is no secret that we love ceviche around here but I only have a couple of actual recipes on the blog because, for the most part, I make straight up, Mexican style ceviche and the only thing that usually changes is the type of seafood I use. I always use raw fish, scallops or shrimp and let it "cook" in lime juice and although none of us have any issues about eating seafood prepared this way, many people still view it as raw and don't want to try it.

There is nothing that tastes fresher or cleaner than ceviche and it's my go to dish when I have a spent a weekend of eating debauchery. There is no oil or added fat of any kind, it's raw, it's cold, it's fresh and it has crunch.You can eat a huge bowl of it and it will amount to almost nothing at the end of the day so you can sit right back down and eat another bowl, guilt free. Clearly, because this dish is not cooked, you want to buy yourself some really fresh fish from a reliable fishmonger like Hooked or my Beaches staple,  The Beach Fish House . Look, I don't know where you live but if you don't know where there is a great fish shop in your hood, take the time to find one. You can thank me later. Ceviche is a popular dish across Mexico, Central and South America and I have yet to meet one that I didn't love. Basically, it's fish or some sort of seafood, marinated in citrus and served cold and from that point, the variations are endless. Gra...

We had our Father's Day manly meal on Saturday, complete with grilled skirt steak and all of Shack's favourites like grilled corn, asparagus and coleslaw so that we could go over to Jen's for some tacos and cocktails. My contribution to the festivities was ceviche and because I couldn't decide between the halibut and the scallops, I bought both. We scored these beautiful, huge local radishes at St Lawrence Market and I knew they would be perfect in a ceviche. Kind of peppery, crunchy, watery and crisp - since I never put fresh chili peppers in my ceviche so that Little Shack will be able to enjoy it, radishes will give it a nice spicy kick without making it hot. I have never met a ceviche I didn't like and I really liked this one a lot. Scallibut Ceviche 1/2 lb fresh halibut 1/3 lb fresh scallops juice of 4 or 5 limes 1 clove garlic 1 tomato , fine dice 1/2 small red onion or vidalia onion, fine dice big handful of cilantro, washed and chopped 3 l...