Red Mullet Ceviche with Mango and Pomegranate

1h 10 mins

4 people

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

1h 10 mins

Ceviche is a traditional Peruvian traditional dish of quickly pickled fresh fish. The pickling of the fish is done by quickly salting the fish fillets, so the sodium in the salt opens the pores and then marinating them in fresh lime juice. The high protein content that fresh fish carries almost ‘cooks’ itself in the acidity of the lime juice. This reaction makes the fish develop a cured texture whilst keeping its freshness. I love ceviche, the flavour is so lively and clean that it makes the perfect summer starter. It is really easy to make, so you can prepare it well in advance and when you are ready to serve, you can really make the dish look pretty and colourful. Red mullet works really well on this dish. This fish has such a beautiful sweet flavour due to its high fat content, that it doesn’t really need anything complicated doing to it, so serving it as ceviche works really well.

Ingredients
Method

2 whole red mullets (400g each), clean and gutted
8 whole limes
½ small red chilli, seeds removed and thinly diced
Seeds from ½ pomegranate
1 small ripe mango, peeled and thinly diced
1 small red onion, peeled
1 tablespoon of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt, black pepper and a pinch of caster sugar to season

Start by filleting the red mullets. If you are not comfortable doing this, ask your fishmonger to do it for you. Hold the red mullet over the sink and with the back of a knife, go from tail to head and gently rub off all the scales. Use a pair of scissors to trim off all the fins. On a chopping board, lay the fish on one side and with the help of a sharp knife make an incision behind the gills across to the back bone, almost like if you were removing the head but without cutting through the fish. Where the cut ends behind the head, use the tip of your knife to make an incision that runs above the back bone from the head to the tail. Make sure that your knife sits tight against the back bone. Lift the open fillet with your hand and draw your knife over the ribs and down to the end of the tail, separating the fillet out; take care not to lose much of the flesh. Repeat this process on the second side and with the other red mullet. Use a pair of fish tweezers to remove all the small pin bones running through the middle of each fillet. Use the tip of your finger to gently find each bone. Take your time when doing this; you really don’t want any fish bones on the ceviche.
In a large shallow dish, lay the thin slices of red mullet and sprinkle with fine sea salt. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Peel and slice the red onion very thinly and place in a bowl of iced water.
Once the 10 minutes are up, add the fresh lime juice to the red mullet. The juice should completely cover the fish; if not, add a little more. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 mins.
Remove the fish from the lime juice (discard the juice) and lay the thin slices of red mullet on each serving plate, make sure you spread the slices out. Scatter the finely chopped chillies, mango, pomegranate seeds, red onion slices, chopped coriander and drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil. Season with some cracked black pepper and a pinch of caster sugar.
Pair this dish with a creamy white wine, such as godello, albariño or a barrel aged verdejo.

Ingredients

2 whole red mullets (400g each), clean and gutted
8 whole limes
½ small red chilli, seeds removed and thinly diced
Seeds from ½ pomegranate
1 small ripe mango, peeled and thinly diced
1 small red onion, peeled
1 tablespoon of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt, black pepper and a pinch of caster sugar to season

Method

Start by filleting the red mullets. If you are not comfortable doing this, ask your fishmonger to do it for you. Hold the red mullet over the sink and with the back of a knife, go from tail to head and gently rub off all the scales. Use a pair of scissors to trim off all the fins. On a chopping board, lay the fish on one side and with the help of a sharp knife make an incision behind the gills across to the back bone, almost like if you were removing the head but without cutting through the fish. Where the cut ends behind the head, use the tip of your knife to make an incision that runs above the back bone from the head to the tail. Make sure that your knife sits tight against the back bone. Lift the open fillet with your hand and draw your knife over the ribs and down to the end of the tail, separating the fillet out; take care not to lose much of the flesh. Repeat this process on the second side and with the other red mullet. Use a pair of fish tweezers to remove all the small pin bones running through the middle of each fillet. Use the tip of your finger to gently find each bone. Take your time when doing this; you really don’t want any fish bones on the ceviche.
In a large shallow dish, lay the thin slices of red mullet and sprinkle with fine sea salt. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Peel and slice the red onion very thinly and place in a bowl of iced water.
Once the 10 minutes are up, add the fresh lime juice to the red mullet. The juice should completely cover the fish; if not, add a little more. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 mins.
Remove the fish from the lime juice (discard the juice) and lay the thin slices of red mullet on each serving plate, make sure you spread the slices out. Scatter the finely chopped chillies, mango, pomegranate seeds, red onion slices, chopped coriander and drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil. Season with some cracked black pepper and a pinch of caster sugar.
Pair this dish with a creamy white wine, such as godello, albariño or a barrel aged verdejo.

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Chef's Profile

Javier De La Hormaza

Javier is a Basque born, trained chef and hospitality professional, owner of Basco Fine Foods, a Spanish food and drink importer based in Yorkshire. He regularly runs client food and drink events around the country and he is a course tutor at Hartingtons of Bakewell cookery school. Javier's passion lies on bringing quality Spanish ingredients and recipes to as many people as possible.

Twitter: @bascofinefoods
Instagram: @mrbasco