Passion fruit and physalis ceviche

Difficulty 2/5

This really is not officially ceviche, but “tiradito”. The difference is in the way the fish is cut. If it’s in cubes, it’s a ceviche, and if it’s laminated it’s a tiradito. So now you know :). I really like this recipe because it’s very fresh, it has an amazing level of acidity and I just love how the physalis complements the passion fruit. Also those basil leaves give a really nice touch to a bite. The only difficult part really is to laminate the fish. You will need a really sharp knife and slow, continuous movements to achieve a perfect cut 🙂 And if you think you can’t handle it, you can always dice up the fish and actually make ceviche.

Portions: 2

Ingredients:
For the “leche de tigre” (lemon juice and fish base):
– 100ml lime juice
– 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
– 10g ginger, roughly chopped
– 10g green onion, roughly chopped
– 10g celery, roughly chopped
– 1 chili pepper
– white fish scraps (only white flesh, no skin or blood)
– salt and pepper to taste

For the tiradito:
– 250g white fish, I used sole. It’s important that it’s really fresh
– 75g passion fruit pulp (for me it was one really large passion fruit)
– 40g physalis + more for garnish
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 70ml olive oil
– salt and pepper to taste
– basil to garnish
– chili peppers to garnish

Procedure:
1. Cut the fish. We do this first so we can use any scraps for the leche de tigre, like the skirt that goes around the filet, for example, which doesn’t have a very nice consistency.

Cut at an angle really thin pieces of fish. Keep them in the fridge until ready to use.

2. Blend all the ingredients from the leche de tigre, pulsing until it’s mixed, but it should not disintegrate completely. Then pass through a fine sieve, pushing down with a spoon to get all the juices.
3. Blend the passion fruit pulp with the sugar and physalis until completely disintegrated. Then pass through a fine sieve.

4. Mix equal parts of the passion fruit juice and leche de trigre, and blend with the olive oil to create a thicker sauce. Adjust seasoning level. Then arrange the fish in a circle or long line, season with salt and bathe with the juice. This should be eaten immediately, almost like sashimi. Garnish with physalis, chili peppers and basil leaves.

I hope you like it! It’s quite easy as long as you get the hang of the fish cuts and be patient with it 🙂 Comment below what you think of fruit in your main course!