Tiradito

Fish sliced thin as sashimi with a blended ají sauce poured over it, never tossed through.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

For the fish

• 500 g very fresh firm white fish fillet, in one piece

For the sauce

• 3 tablespoons ají amarillo paste, as on its own page
• juice of 4 limes
• 2 tablespoons evaporated milk or double cream
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

To finish

• toasted corn or cancha, as on its own page
• a few coriander leaves
• thin slices of ají limo

Method

1. THE FISH IS SLICED THIN AND THE SAUCE POURED OVER, NEVER TOSSED. Slices two or three millimetres thick, laid flat and slightly overlapping on a cold plate, and the sauce spooned across them in a band. That is the whole difference from the ceviche on this site, where the fish is cubed and turned through its marinade: here nothing is mixed, nothing marinates, and the fish is still raw when it reaches the table. Tossed, you have made a thin ceviche badly.
2. SO IT IS ASSEMBLED SECONDS BEFORE SERVING. The acid starts working the moment the sauce lands, and thin slices turn opaque far faster than cubes -- a minute is visible on the plate.
3. THE SAUCE IS BLENDED AND STRAINED. Aji paste, lime, a little evaporated milk and garlic, blended until completely smooth and then passed through a sieve, so it pours in a clean ribbon rather than sitting in lumps. It should be the consistency of single cream.
4. THE FISH IS PART-FROZEN FOR TWENTY MINUTES TO SLICE IT. The same trick as the bulgogi and yukhoe pages: firm at the edges and soft in the middle, and a long sharp knife goes through in one stroke. At fridge temperature it tears and the slices are ragged.
5. AND IT IS SLICED ACROSS THE GRAIN AT AN ANGLE, holding the knife almost flat, which gives a wider slice from a narrow fillet.
6. THE PLATES ARE COLD. Taken from the fridge at the last moment. A warm plate starts cooking the underside of the fish from below while the sauce works from above.
7. Four plates put in the fridge.
8. The sauce ingredients blended 1 minute until completely smooth, then PASSED THROUGH A SIEVE into a jug. Chilled.
9. The fish wrapped and put in the freezer 20 MINUTES, until firm at the edges.
10. Sliced across the grain at a shallow angle, 2 to 3 mm thick, with a long sharp knife.
11. The slices laid flat and overlapping on the cold plates, in a single layer.
12. Tasted: the sauce should be sharp, warm with chilli, and just thick enough to coat.
13. THE SAUCE POURED OVER in a band across the middle of each plate, leaving the ends of the slices clear.
14. The cancha as on its own page, coriander and chilli slices scattered on.
15. Taken to the table immediately.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Peru · All recipes