tuna and mango ceviche {ffwd}
On first glance, ceviche, the Latin American cured fish salad and this week’s selection for French Fridays with Dorie, doesn’t seem very French. Dorie explains that this dish inspired by the cuisine of Senegal, who exports avocados and mangoes. I’m not clear how those influences jump from Africa to the Americas but I’ll take it on faith.
I love sushi, and I’ve ordered ceviche in restaurants. It never occurred to me to make ceviche at home, mostly because of the raw fish issue. Somehow I trust a restaurant’s sources more than my own. I’m just not sure how comfortable I am with the quality of what I can buy, and whether the citrus juice really cooks the fish enough for it to be safe to eat.
As I did for the tuna confit, I bought frozen ahi tuna steaks at Trader Joe’s. It wasn’t sushi quality, but it was frozen which I think kills any parasites. Because the package of tuna was a full pound, I added the juice from an extra lime for some added “cooking action”. We didn’t get sick so that was probably OK.
The rest of the dish was reminiscent of the mango guacamole that we make all the time, with the extra addition of grated ginger.
This made a lot, and since it didn’t seem like it would keep, the two of us ate most of it for dinner. With the leftovers, I picked out the tuna chunks and microwaved them, then stirred them back in. It wasn’t as good as dinner, but at least nothing went to waste.
This definitely wasn’t my favorite from Around My French Table, probably not even in the top 50%, but I chalk that up more to comfort with food safety, than flavors.
To see what the other Doristas thought of their ceviche, check out their links here. The recipe can be found here on Food.com.
Posted on 19 September 2014, in Fish, French Fridays with Dorie and tagged ceviche, fish, French Fridays with Dorie, mango. Bookmark the permalink. 12 Comments.
A Plateful of Happiness 
Betsy, this is certainly a recipe that not too many of us seemed to have made before – thankfully I have found a very reliable source for extremely fresh fish – a nice recipe to make once in a while and I was quite happy with a small “Weck glass portion”. Your ceviche looks fresh and delightfully colorful and the idea of heating the tuna in the microwave the next day is certainly a novel one!
Have a great weekend, dear friend!
Andrea
We absolutely loved this but frankly I think it is a bit different having used seared shrimp instead. Since I don’t do sushi this was a great compromise. I am also not familiar with ceviche so it was a surprise all around, Dorie’s recipe or otherwise. I also agree about the freezing of the fish. If I remember nothing else from IFBC last year it was how good freezing the fish is for this reason,whereas I had previously thought frozen was a less optimal product to buy. –Tricia
If the issue here was nerves, I highly recommend the seared shrimp version. The combination of flavors was absolutely delicious and fear-free. I am also very careful around raw seafood and that’s why, when I couldn’t find sushi-grade tuna at my usual fish place, I deded not to risk it.
Betsy, I am glad to know that I am not the only cook that is a bit squeamish about Ceviche/raw fish (although, I must admit that, as Adrea commented, the microwave technique of yours is “novel”). I blame it on my Iowa roots – we just did not have fresh fish available. I don’t have any problems buying fresh, wonderful fish at our local butcher here, I just didn’t have the nerve to do it. A Pear/Almond Cream Tart is so much more in my comfort zone. If you didn’t read my reply to you, the original FFWD main tart recipe was Orange-Almond Tart. The Bonne Idee was the Pear/Almond Cream.
I’m glad to know you enjoyed the Ceviche! I had to pass on this one…I went with Dories Bonn Idee. I made the Seared Shrimp with mango and avocado…it was delicious! My brain couldn’t get past the thought of RAW fish! Have a great week, Betsy!
I love mangoes. They are by far my favorite fruit. This looks amazing!
Betsy, I am right there with you on food safety. I am a Registered Dietitian and I think all of my training about internal food temperatures of everything has jaded me against raw fish. I don’t even eat rare meat either. I applaud you for giving it a go anyway. We were happy with my hamburger make-up.
The food safety issue is one that gives me pause, too, but there’s sushi grade tuna available just a few blocks away, so I was quite confident with this one. Your mango guacamole must be delicious, by the way.
This was an interesting dish to make, but I think I’d like the seared fish version better.
I thought of going it raw but… ended up searing the cubes! But it was tasty the next day!
Yup, I went the shrimp version.
I remember at IFBC last year, the gentleman who prepared the sushi for us said that he always freezes even his sushi grade fish for safety reasons. Better safe (and healthy) than sorry :-)
Have a nice week!
I enjoyed the combination of flavors in this one, but admit I was a little nervous about the freshness of my fish too. I would like to try the shrimp version sometime.