Ingredients
Fish
- 500 gvery fresh white fish, sea bass, corvina, sole or bream
- or sashimi-grade tuna or salmon
Ají amarillo sauce
- 3 tbspají amarillo paste
- juice of 6 limes
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 2cm ginger
- 1 tbspfish stock or ice water
- salt
To finish
- a little olive oil
- thinly sliced chilli
- coriander leaves
- toasted corn, cancha
- a few drops of soy sauce, in the Nikkei style
To serve
- sweet potato slices
- chilled plates
Directions
- Chill the fish thoroughly and use the sharpest knife you have. Cut across the grain into slices about three or four millimetres thick. Cut with a single long drawing stroke rather than sawing back and forth, which tears the flesh and leaves a ragged surface. Arrange the slices in a single overlapping layer on a chilled plate.
- Chill the plates beforehand, since raw fish warms quickly and should be eaten cold. It is the yellow Peruvian chilli, fruity and moderately hot with a distinctive aroma, and it is central to Peruvian cooking.
- Blend the ají amarillo paste with lime juice, garlic, ginger and a little liquid until smooth. Blend it properly smooth, since tiradito sauce should coat the fish evenly rather than sitting in flecks.
- Squeeze the limes gently by hand rather than crushing them on a press. Pressing hard extracts oils from the pith and the skin, which turn the juice bitter within minutes.
- Use the juice immediately, since lime juice goes bitter as it sits. It should be sharply sour, clearly hot and well salted, and stronger than seems reasonable on a spoon. Keep the sauce cold until it is used.
- Spoon the sauce over the fish at the very last moment, immediately before it goes to the table. Left for even five minutes the slices turn opaque, firm and chalky, which is ceviche rather than tiradito.
- Add a thread of olive oil, a few slices of chilli and coriander leaves. Serve slices of cooked sweet potato alongside, which is the traditional Peruvian foil for the acid and heat.
Technique
- Tiradito is sliced and sauced at the last moment, unlike cubed and marinated ceviche.
- Fish for raw eating should be frozen to the recognised standard first.
- Ají amarillo is central and cannot be substituted.
Substitutions
- Any very fresh firm white fish, or sashimi-grade tuna.
- There is no real substitute for ají amarillo paste.
Variations
- Tiradito nikkei, with soy and a little sesame oil.
- Made with a rocoto chilli sauce, which is hotter.
- Tiradito a la crema de ají, with a creamier sauce.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tiradito?
Tiradito is a main from Peru: sashimi-cut fish sauced with ají amarillo and lime, Nikkei style.
How long does Tiradito take to make?
Tiradito takes 25 min of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Tiradito?
Yes, within limits. Any very fresh firm white fish, or sashimi-grade tuna. There is no real substitute for ají amarillo paste.
What is the most important thing to get right in Tiradito?
Chill the fish thoroughly and use the sharpest knife you have. Cut across the grain into slices about three or four millimetres thick. Cut with a single long drawing stroke rather than sawing back and forth, which tears the flesh and leaves a ragged surface. Arrange the slices in a single overlapping layer on a chilled plate.
