Monday, June 23, 2008

Shark Ceviche and Cooking with Acid

Okay, okay, it's not quite as dramatic as all that. The sharks are actually on the small side (look! two fit on my cutting board together!) and Roberto's mother gave them to us (what can be more innocent than groceries from a mother!).


As for the acid, well, that's a long known cooking method of curing meats with citrus juices and the classic ceviche way of rendering something scary (nicaraguan raw fish), a little less scary.


Ceviche
1 lb shark (or whatever fish you prefer), shrimp or crab
1 cp chopped peppers
1 cp chopped onion
1/2 cp chopped cilantro
Salt
Pepper

Simply chop fish into small pieces and cover with lime juice for 24 hours. After the fish is done 'cooking' add finely chopped peppers and onion. Chop cilantro and mix all together with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on crackers, or some people simply eat it with a spoon!


And yes! It really is that simple!

4 comments:

Lauren said...

what a surprising dish! I don't think I've ever had shark but I would definitely try this!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love ceviche, and i understand the ease of using sharks given to you, but shark meat is harvested in a very unsustainable fashion and filled with chemicals like mercury. This is due to the long lifespan of sharks that gives them time to accumulate carcinogens...love the ceviche, just wish it didn't require shark!

Nicole said...

I don't doubt that sharks, being predators have higher amounts of chemicals in their systems than general, as any animal that eats another animal (such as people) would have. These sharks are caught by fishermen in small boats just off the coast of Nicaragua. While sharks have a bad history of overfishing (especially in Nicaragua! The only freshwater shark in the world was nearly fished to extinction by Somoza, the US backed dictator during the 60's and 70's. It has since begun to recover (barely) with many some internationally supported programs in place), supporting small self employed fishers is something I feel comfortable with as one of the most direct ways to support 'foreign aid'. But of course more importantly, make the ceviche with whatever seafood you feel comfortable with! http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp is a great place to check out if you want to enjoy seafood in an evironmentally responsible way!

Stroudster B said...

I've always wanted to try shark - and ceviche is one of my very favorite things; so ogling this post for about the 9th time this week and having not had lunch yet - I can't help but drool a bit.