A ceviche is a fish-based dish marinated in citrus juices and olive oil. The acids in the citrus "cook" the fish by denaturing its proteins. It makes a delicious and fresh appetizer - since the scallops are going in raw it's essential that you buy the freshest ones you can find.
Ingredients
6 large scallops, diced
1 cup mango, diced
1/2 cup cucumber, diced
1 tablespoon brunoised chili pepper
3 tbsp pineapple juice
2 tsp rice wine vingar
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
juice of two limes (about 4 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Method
Wash and dry your scallops well. Dice into pieces about 1 cm in size. Put into a medium bowl.
Add the mango and cucumber (you want all the pieces the same size as the scallop) and 1 tablespoon finely diced chilli pepper. Set this aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt, fresh grated ginger, lime juice, and grapeseed oil.
Pour over the scallop mixture, mix and cover. Then allow to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour (you can even make it a couple hours in advance). Mix once after 30 minutes to redistribute the sauce.
Toss with chopped cilantro and serve.
As long as you trust your fishmonger and the scallops are extremely fresh, you can eat this earlier than one hour before the scallops are fully "cooked" – as it marinates you’ll see the scallop bits become opaque as they firm up in the acid of the citrus juices.
Sue Riedl