The original ceviche has a citrus flavour as it is made with limes. I have recently moved to Baja California, where mangoes are in abundance during the months of June, July and August so we have used those here. The combination of mango and lemon adds a delicious sweet and sour touch to the ceviche.
Serves 4–6
500 g (1 lb) raw, shell-on prawns/shrimp
1 cucumber
A small bunch of fresh mint leaves
Freshly squeezed juice of 3 lemons
Pulp of ½ mango
1 red Thai chilli/chile
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
Peel and clean the prawns/shrimp, removing the head, shell and black strip from each. Cut them lengthwise (but not all the way through) to make a butterfly cut.
Bring 500 ml/2 cups water to the boil in a saucepan, add the prawns/shrimp and cook for 2–3 minutes or until opaque and cooked through, then drain and place in ice to cool.
Peel and cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and cut three-quarters of it into half-moons. Reserve the remaining quarter, along with the seeds, for the sauce.
Set aside 4–5 mint leaves for a garnish, then make the sauce by blending the remaining mint with the lemon juice, mango pulp, Thai chilli/chile, the remaining cucumber and the seeds, and salt and pepper.
Place the prawns/shrimp on a platter, then drizzle over the sauce and add the slices of onion and halfmoons of cucumber. Put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.
TO SERVE
Garnish with the reserved mint leaves and serve on the platter or spoon on top of slices of toasted bread.
Excerpted from Everyone Loves Tacos by Felipe Fuentes Cruz and Ben Fordham. Copyright © 2018. Photographs by Peter Cassidy. Used with permission from Ryland Peters & Small.
Want more recipes from Everyone Loves Tacos? This original article first appeared in the Summer 2018 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.
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