Shrimp Ceviche topped Tostones
Crispy fried and salted plantains topped with a Peruvian-style shrimp ceviche marinated and cured in a slightly spicy and very tangy “leche de tigre,” aka tiger’s milk, sauce. Leche de tigre is made from the discarded shells, bones and bits of fish and seafood to create a concentrated seafood stock that has heaps of added fresh lime juice, citrus and aji amarillo, a Peruvian golden yellow hot pepper (that can be found in latin stores, some American grocery stores in the latin aisle as a puree in a jar, or online). My version offers a Nikkei-style approach (Japanese-Peruvian fusion) adding ginger, a little sesame oil and katsuobushi (Japanese dried, fermented and smoked skipjack tuna shaved paper thin/ Also found in most large American grocery stores in the asian aisle).
The aji amarillo pepper is ubiquitous with Peruvian cuisine, and is found in several “mother” sauces and soups of the cuisine. If there is a chile pepper that tastes like sunshine, then this is it. It has medium-high heat flavor with a lot of fruitiness. Also commonly mixed into ceviches are aji rocoto (a small red, bright spiced flavor) and aji panca (a deep red burgandy pepper, dried and smoked to provide deep fruity undertones).
Peruvian ceviche is traditionally served with sides of boiled or roasted sweet potato, choclo (a large corn kernel from the Amazon), and/or canchita (toasted corn nuts) or chifle (fried plantain chips). This recipe serves the ceviche on top fried tostones, (twice fried plantains) which while not traditional, is a filling and satisfying alternative. If you’d like to make this ceviche as an appetizer, then perhaps instead serve with plantain chips.
Yield: 4
Shrimp Ceviche topped Tostones
Crispy fried plantains topped with Peruvian shrimp ceviche marinated in a nikkei-style leche de tigre sauce.
Prep time: Cook time: Total time:
Ingredients:
Nikkei-style Leche de Tigre
- Shells from shrimp& Any fish scrap/bones
- 1 jar Clam juice
- 4 limes, zested then juiced
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2" knob of ginger, chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, large chop
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 3 tbsp. aji amarillo paste (or sub other chile)
- 2 tbsp katsuobushi bonito flakes
- 3-4 tsp sea salt
Ceviche
- 1.5-2 lbs wild-caught shrimp, shells on
- Leche de tigre sauce
- Bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 Red onion, thinly sliced
Tostones
- 3 ripe plantains
- 1.5 cups frying oil (I prefer olive oil)
- sea salt
Instructions:
How to cook Shrimp Ceviche topped Tostones
- To make the Leche de Tigre, first start with a medium sized pot and fill with a quart or so of water. Add the uncooked shells from your shrimp, any type of whitefish scraps, fish bones, or other seafood shells (uncooked) you may have. Add your clam juice and your celery. Place over medium-low heat and let simmer for a good 30 minutes to an hour until the stock has reduced to 1/2 of it's original volume.
- Strain your warm stock into a blender, add the remaining ingredients and blend on high. Transfer to a jar and place in the fridge to cool.
- To make the ceviche, place a medium-sized pot filled with 1 quart of water and 1/2 pound of butter over medium-high heat. Once up to a simmer, add your cleaned shrimp and cook until just starting to turn pink (do NOT cook through! they will finish their "cooking" process by curing in the marinade). Strain your shrimp and place into an ice bath (ice and cold water bin) to stop the cooking process. Strain your shrimp a second time into a medium-sized bowl and add your cooled leche de tigre marinade. Let rest for at least 15 minutes, until your shrimp are cured and more bright pink/white in color.
- To make the tostones, peel your plantains by making a vertical cut down the skin and peeling back. Cut the plantains in thick 1.5" slices. Heat your oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or fryer to 325F/medium heat (if the oil is smoking, the heat is too high).
- Fry the plantains until just a very light golden color and transfer to paper towels. While still warm, smash your plantains one by one on a piece of parchment or plastic wrap (to prevent sticking) with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Turn your heat up slightly between 350-365F (if the oil is smoking, the heat is still too high). Refry the plantains until a deep golden brown color. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon to paper-towel lined platter and salt immediately.
- To plate the dish, take one or two tostones, top with spoonfuls of your shrimp ceviche and marinade. Garnish with thinly sliced red onion, cilantro and some additional sea salt.
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