Ceviche Limeño — Sea Bass in Leche de Tigre with Red Onion

Ingredients

• 1 lb sushi-grade Sea Bass, cut into ¾-inch cubes
• 1 Red Onion, sliced paper-thin
• 12 limes, juiced (about 1 cup)
• 1 ají limo or habanero, minced
• 2 tbsp minced ají amarillo paste
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 inch ginger, grated
• ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1 sweet potato, boiled and sliced
• 1 cup cooked choclo or sweet corn

Method

1. Soak the sliced Red Onion in ice water for 10 minutes to knock the raw bite out of it, then drain well. Limp onion ruins the texture of the whole plate.
2. Squeeze the limes by hand and stop before you reach the pith — a juicer wrings out bitterness that no amount of salt will fix. Strain the juice.
3. Whisk the lime juice with garlic, ginger, ají amarillo paste, ají limo, and salt. This is your leche de tigre; it should taste bracing, sweet, and hot in that order.
4. Salt the Sea Bass cubes, let them stand 2 minutes, then pour the leche de tigre over. Toss and leave exactly 8–10 minutes: the outsides go opaque white while the centers stay barely translucent and tender.
5. Fold in the cilantro and Red Onion at the last second and serve immediately in chilled bowls, with sweet potato and choclo on the side to cut the acid. Use only fish you would eat raw.