Peruvian ceviche

Lorena Salinas’s Peruvian ceviche uses white fish with its own leche de tigre, a lime-juice mixture blended with fish trimmings, onion, garlic, celery, ginger, chilli and coriander stalks. This version selects flounder and red onion and serves the fish with sweet potato, Peruvian corn and coriander leaves.

The sliced red onion rests with abundant salt for fifteen minutes, then is rinsed and reserved. The fish is cut into two-centimetre cubes, with thin pieces going to the leche de tigre. The cubes are mixed with chopped chilli, onion, salt and pepper while the leche de tigre is made.

Limes are squeezed close to serving time, with an ice cube kept with the juice and removed before blending. The juice, fish trimmings, red onion, garlic, chilli, celery, ginger, salt and coriander stalks are pulsed briefly, then passed through a sieve and pressed. The salt is checked, and sugar is added if the mixture is too sour.

For the sides, the sweet potatoes are peeled and boiled until tender, removed from the water and cooled completely before slicing. The Peruvian corn is cooked in water with a little sugar until tender. The leche de tigre is mixed with the fish and the other ceviche ingredients just before serving.

The ceviche is served immediately with coriander leaves, sweet potato and Peruvian corn. Salinas describes the two sides as a balance for the ceviche’s sourness, and this version follows her preference for freshly mixed fish rather than a prolonged marinade.