Ecuadorian Style Spot Prawn Ceviche with Jalapeño-Herb Sauce and Tostones
Ecuadorian Style Spot Prawn Ceviche with Jalapeño-Herb Sauce and Tostones
Serves 4–8 (as a main or appetizer, depending on how you serve it)
by Andraya Avison
Description:
This is an elegant main course or appetizer served ice cold. The tostones and hot sauce are optional but recommended. You have some beautiful spot prawns so you might as well go all out, but you could use high-quality store bought tortilla chips and hot sauce to make things speedier. You will have some jalapeño-herb left over if you make it – It’s good with eggs and toast and will keep 4–5 days in your fridge. Don’t be shy with the salt here as it’s a hot sauce and meant to be salty. Tostones are best enjoyed fresh and hot, but if you have any leftovers you can reheat them in your oven or airfryer to regain some of their crispiness.
Ingredients:
Ceviche:
- 1 package GoodFish Seafood Co. Spot Prawns, thawed overnight in the fridge or by placing frozen prawns in a sieve and running under cold water until defrosted, peeled
- ½ red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- Juice from 1 orange
- Juice from 3 limes
- Zest from 1 lime
- 1 roma tomato, diced into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 whole roma tomato
- 1 small bell pepper, diced into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ bunch cilantro, leaves picked and chopped for garnish and stems finely chopped, divided
Jalapeño-Herb Sauce:
- 2-4 jalapeño peppers, stem removed (seed or partially seeded depending on how spicy you want your sauce)
- ¼ bunch cilantro
- ¼ bunch Italian flat leaf parsley
- ¼ cup lemon juice (approx. 2 whole lemons)
- 3 scallions, ends trimmed
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
Tostones:
- 1–2 green plantains, peeled and cut diagonally on a bias into 1–1½ inch thick rounds
- Water for soaking
- Neutral oil for frying (I like grapeseed)
- Salt
Method:
For the ceviche:
- In a large bowl, combine sliced onions with lime juice and a big pinch of salt. Set aside.
- Prepare a medium bowl of ice water and place it next to the stove.
- In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, lime zest, 1 cup water, 2 tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. white pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Add shrimp and cook for 1–2 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to the ice water to stop the cooking. Set cooking liquid aside to cool. Drain shrimp and set aside while cooking liquid cools.
- In a blender, combine 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid with the whole roma tomato and blend on high until smooth.
- Add to bowl with onion-lime juice mixture, add tomato-cooking liquid mixture along with shrimp, orange juice, diced peppers, diced tomatoes, cilantro stems and worcestershire.
- Combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
- Garnish with cilantro leaves before serving.
- I like to serve mine with fried green plantains (tostones), but you could also serve it with tortilla chips, tostadas, and/or sliced avocado.
For the jalapeño-herb sauce:
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.
For the tostones:
- Place the plantain slices in a bowl of salted water to soak for a few minutes; this helps remove excess starch.
- In a large frying pan, pour enough oil to cover the bottom by about half an inch. Heat the oil over medium heat.
- While the oil is heating, drain the plantains and pat dry with paper towel to prevent the oil from splattering.
- Once the oil is hot, carefully add the plantain slices to the pan. Cook in batches if necessary, as we don’t want to overcrowd the pan. Cook for 2–3 minutes per side, or until golden and slightly crispy.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer plantain slices to a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil.
- Once all the plantains are fried, it's time to flatten them. Using the bottom of a heavy glass, press down on each fried plantain slice to flatten it into a disk shape.
- Now, it's time for the second round of frying. Heat pan with oil over medium-high. Once hot, return the flattened plantains to the hot oil in batches and fry for another 1-2 minutes on each side until they are crispy and golden brown.
- Once again, remove the tostones from the pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. While they're still hot, sprinkle some salt over the tostones to taste.
