Ceviche of red mullet with ras al hanout

By: Greg Malouf, Lucy Malouf
From: Moorish
Serves: 4
Photographer: Mark Roper

You would be hard-pressed to find a simpler dish than ceviche, the traditional Mexican technique of ‘cooking’ fish with the acids from citrus fruit, in particular, limes. You can pretty much ceviche any seafood – all white fish work well, as do oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, and even molluscs, such as scallops.

Here we use red mullet, a lovely delicate fish that is enormously popular around the Mediterranean. Go to a good fishmonger to make sure that they are super-fresh. If you feel up to the task, clean and fillet the fish yourself, otherwise ask the fishmonger to do it for you. Explain what you are preparing, and ask the fishmonger to be as gentle as possible so as not to crush the delicate flesh. If you cannot find red mullet, use any other good white fish – whiting or garfish would work well.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
1200g	red mullet
2	tomatoes, seeded and very finely diced
2	mild green chillies, seeded, scraped and finely shredded
1	medium-sized purple onion, very finely sliced
1 cup	coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup	chervil leaves
	garlic, crushed with 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt
3	lime, juiced
85ml	good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 level teaspoon	Ras al hanout
	salt and black pepper

Method

First, scale the red mullet. Hold it under running water and use your thumb to run against the scales from tail to head. They are delicate and come away very easily. Then use a really sharp knife and carefully slice away the two fillets from the bones. Use tweezers to remove any little bones, being as gentle as you can so as not to mush the flesh.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, chillies, onion, coriander and chervil. Whisk the garlic paste with the lime juice, olive oil and ras al hanout. Pour the dressing into the bowl and mix everything together well. Taste and add a little extra salt if necessary.
Spoon half the marinade into the bottom of a shallow dish, spreading it out evenly, and lay the fish fillets on top, skin side up. Then spoon the rest of the marinade over the fish so they are completely covered. Lightly sprinkle with salt and black pepper, then cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
Serve with plenty of warm crusty bread, and perhaps a tomato salad.

Tags:: Malouf; Greg; Lucy; Moorish

Ceviche of red mullet with ras al hanout

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