Recipe: Peruvian Tiradito of White Sea Bass with Soy Dipping Sauce

the appetizer:

Fish Forever by Paul Johnson emphasizes sustainable seafood with recipes, like Sopa De Fideo with Mussels and Aïoli, Braised Wreckfish with a Golden Pan Sauce and Red Pepper-Saffron Aïoli, and Peruvian Tiradito of White Sea Bass with Soy Dipping Sauce.

Peruvian Tiradito of White Sea Bass
with Soy Dipping Sauce

Peru

Serves 12 as an appetizer

Peruvian fishermen have long salted and soused fish in lime to make ceviche, while tiradito is a more recent incarnation. The influence of the many Japanese immigrants who came to Peru in the nineteenth century is apparent in the way the fish is sliced rather than chopped, and ginger, soy, and other Japanese ingredients often find their way into tiradito. Other good fish to use in this preparation are fluke (summer flounder), aquacultured sturgeon, striped bass, albacore, and Alaska or California halibut—all environmentally sound choices as well.

The tiradito can be garnished with cold cooked yams and corn on the cob cut into thick wheels, or the typical garnish, cancha: panfried Peruvian hard corn, very similar to the American snack food known as "corn nuts." Vanessa Barrington, who did a wonderful job of testing the recipes for this book, suggested an easier-to-find alternative in boiled edamame.

1-1/2 pounds white sea bass fillets
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1/3 cup finely chopped celery with tops
1/3 cup finely chopped green olives
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Soy Dipping Sauce

1 red rocoto or serrano chile
1 garlic clove
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
1/4 cup soy sauce
Orange and lime juices reserved from marinade (above)

1. With a sharp knife, cut along either side of the dark blood line that runs down the center lateral line of the fillet. Discard the dark flesh.

Trim away the thinnest edges and the belly flap, making sure to include the fine pinbones that reside just to the center of the belly meat. Each fillet has now been turned into 2 relatively uniform blocks.

2. Cut each block into 1/4-inch slices and arrange on a chilled platter. Sprinkle with the salt. Scatter the celery, green olives, and bell pepper over the fish. Mix the orange and lime juice together, and pour three fourths of it over the fish, reserving the rest, 1/4 cup, for the dipping sauce. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.

3. For the sauce: Using a mortar and pestle, pound the chile, garlic, and ginger into a paste. Stir in the soy sauce and the reserved orange and lime juices.

4. Serve the tiradito with the dipping sauce alongside.

from:
Fish Forever

The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing
Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood
by Paul Johnson
Wiley 2007
Hardcover; 438 pages; US $34.95
ISBN 978-0-7645-8779-5 (076458779X)
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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