Colombian Style Ceviche with Banana Emulsion and Lemongrass

[Steve Kroll]

By request. This was one of the recipes I learned to make in a Colombian cooking school. In that class, we used Corvina fish. But I was told you can use whatever firm fleshed mild fish or shrimp you have available.

Colombian Style Ceviche with Banana Emulsion and Lemongrass
Courtesy of Lunático Cooking Studio
Makes 2 Servings

Ingredients

• 200g fresh corvina or sea bass (about 8 oz)
• 2 lemons, halved
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup crushed ice
• 1 banana
• 2 tsp dried lemongrass (optional)
• Pickled red onion (I make this up ahead of time)
• 1 avocado
• 1 bell pepper (yellow or orange to add color)
• Pinch black sesame seed
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Deseed and cut in julienne the bell pepper, and dice the avocado. Toss with one of the sliced jalapeños and some pickled onion. Set Aside.
2. Cut the fish or shrimp into medium dice, add to a bowl, then sprinkle with a pinch of salt, top with the crushed ice, and place it in the fridge until needed. Squeeze the lemon juice from 1-1/2 lemons and add the lemon zest and 1 tsp of dried lemongrass. Mix it well and place in the fridge to chill.
3. For the emulsion: mix in the blender the banana, juice of the remaining half a lemon, 1 jalapeño (or as much as you like), 1 tsp dried lemongrass, salt and pepper.
4. You can assemble the ceviche just before you are ready to eat, but it’s important that you don’t leave the fish marinating for too long – you don’t want the acids in the juices to cook the fish. Pour the lemon juice mixture over the fish mixture and immediately stir it to combine. Leave it to sit for about 1 minute while you lay out the plates.
5. Place half the fish on each plate, top with the pepper, avocado, and pickled onion mixture, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve the banana emulsion on the side.

 

[pictonguy]

Looks good, but I was wondering about the instruction where it says to put the fish in a bowl then cover with salt and ice? Also it then says to make sure you don't marinade the fish very long with the lemon juice and wait until just before serving? there's also no measurement for the salt, so it's difficult to interpret what these instructions are attempting to describe, maybe it's a language thing, not sure.

Also, this is just me but lemon grass is pretty much non existent in South American cuisine, not that that means anything in particular except it's described as a Columbian dish.

You'll have to excuse my finicky nature and I'm not by any means saying this recipe is wrong, just trying to clarify.

 

[Steve Kroll]

It's the recipe I got from the cooking school, cleaned up a bit by myself. Keep in mind it was originally written by someone who is not a native English speaker.

The instructor, who is a native Colombian, actually used lemongrass oil in her emulsion. I asked what I could substitute, since most lemongrass oil I've been able to find online is not food grade. She said dried lemongrass would work (and that's what the recipe calls for), but is not going to be as fragrant.

The crushed ice chills down the fish quickly and also acts to mute the lemon juice just a bit.

Long story short, I've made this recipe 3 times now and it tastes great. As far as salt, "to taste" for me is about 2 good pinches of kosher salt. With the acidity from the lemon juice, it doesn't need a lot in my opinion.

 

[pictonguy]

Ok, thanks Steve. It was the "Cut the fish or shrimp into medium dice, add to a bowl, then cover with salt and ice and place it in the fridge until needed" that piqued my interest. Also lemon is fairly unusual in South American cuisine considering the lime dominates, culinarily speaking. I like the banana aspect of this dish and I'm going to try and use that in an emulsion, or maybe some deep fried plantains somewhere. cheers

 

[dragnlaw]

I think one might also consider that a traditional dish made in another country has to adapt a substitute in another.

Thanks for posting Steve sure sounds interesting!

 

[taxlady]

Thanks Steve, and thanks pictonguy for asking for the clarification. I have copy/pasted to CMT (Copy Me That).

 

[Steve Kroll]

Alright. As I was reading through the recipe, I thought to myself there are a few things that don't make sense. So I cleaned it up a bit, and tried to rewrite parts based on how I usually make it. Hopefully it's better now.

 

[taxlady]

Alright. As I was reading through the recipe, I thought to myself there are a few things that don't make sense. So I cleaned it up a bit, and tried to rewrite parts based on how I usually make it. Hopefully it's better now.

Was the cleanup just in the instructions? I'll want to update my copy.

 

[caseydog]

I like the recipe... but I don't like avocados, and I'm allergic to raw bananas, and don't know if the citric acid would make the bananas work for me.

I'm thinking that any flaky white fish would work, so it is definitely something we can all make -- even if all you can easily get is Cod. I would definitely go with yellow or orange bell pepper. Green BP is a different plant, and don't think it would work as well.

Pickled red onions are a staple item in my kitchen. This year's drought made growing jalapeños a non-starter. But, pickled jalapeños are also a staple item for me, and still have some from last year.

The best thing about this recipe is that anyone can modify it to work with what they can get.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

go with yellow or orange bell pepper. Green BP is a different plant,

pardon?

 

[Steve Kroll]

Was the cleanup just in the instructions? I'll want to update my copy.

Instructions and ingredient list. Nothing major. Just cleaned up the ingredient list.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Pickled red onions are a staple item in my kitchen. This year's drought made growing jalapeños a non-starter. But, pickled jalapeños are also a staple item for me, and still have some from last year.

Same here. Maybe not a "staple" per se, but I make them up quite often to use on tacos or beans/rice.

 

[caseydog]

pardon?

Red and green bell peppers come from the same plant. The red ones are just fully ripened. The yellow and orange ones are a different variety from the same family. They even taste different.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Yes, of course, don't know what I was thinking. Somehow thought you were saying that green was different from all of them.