I used to eat a lot of ceviche in Peru and loved it. Then I came back to London, and this being around 30 years ago, found I couldn't find it here. So I devised this recipe so I could keep enjoying it with what was available easily in the UK. I included it in my book The Gut Makeover Recipe book and am passionate about sharing the ceviche experience - which is also a healthy one. It's not only refreshing, easy-to-make, and delicious, but can be good for your gut too - with its prebiotic cold sweet potatoes and red onions, plus there's variety of fibre and colour in the herbs and chillies (including capsaicin) for gut bacteria to munch on and that's before you get to the healthful iodine and protein in the fish, and the vitamin C in the citrus fruit.
This recipe serves 4. You will need:
4 pieces of the freshest white fish you can find (about 200g each), boned and skinned (I usually use cod)
1 tbsp sea salt (yes, 1 tablespoon – it gives it a frozen margarita kind of twist)
A small bunch of coriander freshly chopped
To serve: 6 sweet potatoes, roasted in their skins for about 1 hour or until soft and juicy, then peeled and chopped in half
Lay the pieces of fish on plastic trays or plates and place in the freezer for 1 hour. Whip them out when they are firm, but not frozen through – this makes it easier to cut precise thin slivers. (It’s worth planning ahead to include this step – if you don’t do this and/or your knife isn’t sharp, you can end up with fluffy, rough bits of fish rather than sashimi-style slivers.)
Slice the fish into thin wafers, put them in a bowl and stir in all the remaining ingredients. Within 15 minutes the fish should take on a white ‘cooked’ appearance.
Serve as soon as possible (marinating the fish for too long can make it mushy).
To serve, place the bowl of ceviche in the middle of a platter or bowl surrounded by the room-temperature sweet potatoes – the sweet potatoes are the perfect antidote to the sharp, spicy, citrus flavours of the fish.