Ingredients
Base
- 200 gvery fresh white fish trimmings, plus 100 g diced fish
- juice of 10 limes
- 1red onion, sliced
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 2cm ginger
- 1 stalkcelery
- 1aji limo or 2 aji amarillo, deseeded
- 1 handfulcoriander with stems
- ice cubes
- salt
To serve
- diced fish
- cancha corn
- sweet potato
- 1aji limo slice
Optional
- 50 mlpisco
- prawns
Directions
- Use white fish from a source you trust, and freezing it solid for several days first is the standard precaution against parasites.
- Squeeze the limes by hand and squeeze them gently. Never use a machine juicer and never crush the limes hard.
- Blend the fish trimmings, lime juice, onion, garlic, ginger, celery, chilli, coriander and a handful of ice with a pinch of salt. It keeps the mixture cold while the blades work, which stops the lime cooking the fish into something chalky before you have strained it.
- Blend for 30 seconds only, no longer. Strain it through a fine sieve, pressing gently. Taste and balance it: it should be sharply sour, salty, hot and faintly sweet from the ginger, and it should make you flinch slightly.
- Chill it hard and keep it chilled, because it warms fast and loses its edge within minutes.
- Add a slice of chilli and a piece of boiled sweet potato, and a splash of pisco if you want the version drunk as a hangover cure.
- Serve immediately, in a glass, drunk rather than spooned. It is drunk at cevicherías along the Peruvian coast, and its reputation as a restorative is taken seriously enough that it is ordered at lunchtime for exactly that.
Technique
- Anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised should avoid raw fish preparations entirely.
- It separates within an hour and is made to order.
- Aji limo is the Peruvian chilli for it; aji amarillo gives a fruitier, milder version.
Substitutions
- Any firm white sea fish; freshwater fish should never be used raw.
- Habanero or scotch bonnet, used sparingly, in place of aji limo.
Variations
- Leche de pantera, made with black shellfish and darker.
- With pisco, as a cocktail.
- Poured over a full ceviche rather than drunk alone.
History
Served as a chaser or hangover cure in Lima cevicherias, sometimes with shellfish added; the name claims restorative power.
Frequently asked questions
What is Leche de tigre?
Leche de tigre is a soup & stew from Peru: the citrus, fish and aji marinade of ceviche, drunk from a glass. Served as a chaser or hangover cure in Lima cevicherias, sometimes with shellfish added; the name claims restorative power.
How long does Leche de tigre take to make?
Leche de tigre takes 20 min of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes 4 glasses. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Leche de tigre?
Yes, within limits. Any firm white sea fish; freshwater fish should never be used raw. Habanero or scotch bonnet, used sparingly, in place of aji limo.
What is the most important thing to get right in Leche de tigre?
Squeeze the limes by hand and squeeze them gently. Never use a machine juicer and never crush the limes hard.
