Sea bass ceviche with red-wine pickled onion and avocado purée
Ben Tunnicliffe shares his effortlessly simple yet impressive sea bass ceviche starter. The fish is cured in a mixture of lemon, lime and orange juice and a little red chilli for a fruity and fresh sour flavour with a background hum of heat on the palate. Pickled red onion adds a pop of vinegar and creamy avocado purée rounds everything off nicely.
Ben says: “If you can, go to your local fishmonger, source whole sea bass and fillet it yourself, as buying whole gives you a much better indication of freshness. Look out for bright eyes and slimy skin; if you lift the flap behind the head, the gills should be a bright deep red colour, and if it smells of anything it should only be the sea! Once a fish is filleted, it is harder to assess how fresh it is – but look out for bright and firm flesh and no 'fishy' smell."
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 300g of sea bass fillet, as fresh as possible (see note), scaled and pin-boned
- pink Himalayan salt, to serve
PICKLED RED ONION
- 100g of red wine vinegar
- 100g of red wine
- 100g of caster sugar
- 1 red onion, very finely sliced, ideally on a mandoline
CITRUS CURE
- 1 lemon
- 1 lime, zested
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped
- 10g of caster sugar
Equipment
- Mandoline
- Piping bags
Method
Make the pickled red onion the day before you want to serve the dish. Put the vinegar, red wine and sugar in a saucepan and boil to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved, transfer to a container and allow to cool completely
- 100g of red wine vinegar
- 100g of red wine
- 100g of caster sugar
Combine the sliced onion and the cooled pickling liquor, placing a piece of baking paper on the surface to make sure the onion is submerged. Pickle in the fridge for 24 hours
- 1 red onion, very finely sliced, ideally on a mandoline
You can also make the citrus cure for the ceviche the day before. Combine the citrus zest and juice in a large bowl (finely grating the citrus over a large bowl ensures you capture the oils that are released from the fruits in the bowl)
Add the chilli, sugar and a pinch of salt and mix throughout. Set aside in the fridge overnight (you can do this on day you plan to serve, if you prefer)
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped
- 10g of caster sugar
For the avocado purée, place the avocado flesh into a blender. Add the sugar syrup, lime juice, citric acid (if using) and a small pinch of salt and blitz to a fine purée. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then strain through a sieve and transfer into a piping bag. Set aside in the fridge until needed – adding the citric acid and storing in a piping bag will help prevent oxidisation if making the purée 1-2 days in advance
When you’re ready to serve, thinly slice the sea bass starting at the tail end as if slicing smoked salmon (see below). Arrange in a fairly flat single layer over the base 4 small plates
- 300g of sea bass fillet, as fresh as possible (see note), scaled and pin-boned
Spoon some of the cure over the sea bass, making sure all of the fish is touched by (but not drowned in) the juice. Season with some pink Himalayan salt and leave to lightly cure for a couple of minutes
- pink Himalayan salt, to serve
Pipe (or spoon) dots of the avocado purée randomly on the sea bass, drain some pickled red onion rings then scatter 6 or 7 over the top. Serve immediately
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