"Ceviche," she said

Hey, I have some left over okay Tilapia from frying fish last night, and my wife has requested that I make Ceviche with it tonight. Couple of questions: 1) is this a reasonable fish to make ceviche with 2) how long does it need to sit in the glass bowl with the lime Juice? Checking out recipes on the net I've seen everything from "marinate in lime juice over night," to "dress with lime juice and serve." Also, should the vegetables (I've got some red onion and tomato) marinate with it, or be tossed together before serving. Thanks for any help!

I've made ceviche with tilapia once using a Rick Bayless recipe that originally called for mackerel.

Tilapia's neutral flavor, in my mind, makes it a less-than-optimal choice for ceviche, but it won't be bad by any means. Since you said that this is "leftover" and "okay", you certainly don't want to give it a light dress and serve preparation--you probably want this fish fully cooked which will require an acid bath for at least 4 hours and as much as overnight, depending on how big you chop it up. Don't marinate it forever (keep an eye on it). Too long in the acid and it'll dry out and become inedible.

Just before serving, add some tomato juice, diced tomato, red onion, and chiles.

Best,
Michael

Thanks, Michael. Looks like she'll have to wait for tomorrow to eat that!

starbird wrote:Thanks, Michael. Looks like she'll have to wait for tomorrow to eat that!

Not necessarily. If you go for a very small dice it'll probably all be cooked through in a few hours.

eatchicago wrote:you probably want this fish fully cooked which will require an acid bath for at least 4 hours and as much as overnight, depending on how big you chop it up.

Another thread covering ceviche (mostly freshwater vs. saltwater). I took an Art of Ceviche class at ICE in NYC, and as long as the fish is in a smallish dice (say, less than a half inch), you should be able to get away with marinating for just an hour, or 2-3 max. if you're nervous about it. Overnight marinating would "overcook" the fish, IMO.

If the leftover tilapia is already cooked, there's really no need to worry about excessive marinating in the citrus. It's cooked, so you're really just "dressing" the fish before serving in whatever citrus blend you concoct. Plus, I think tilapia will disentigrate quickly from too much marinating.

More fantastic advice! I think I'm in love with this forum. Since you took a class, lemme take your temperature on this: I've been looking for an excuse to hit La Unica and buy dried Spanish or Portugese style Chorizo. I'm thinking about toasting some tortillas, I've got some asparagus I thought I might blanche and shock, put that on the tortilla topped with the ceviche, red onion, and tomato, and then maybe shaving some dried chorizo on that. Does this sound like overkill, or, considering the tilapia is only average, will it fly?

Hmmm. Sounds like overkill for something as delicate as tilapia ceviche, but what the heck do I know? It might be delicious, so why not try it and, in true LTH-lovin' spirit, take pictures and report back? The class recipes I walked away with don't mention adding any kind of dried/cured meaty-rific toppings, but how could it be a BAD thing? Seriously.