Ecuadorian Shrimp Ceviche... mmm..

Otavalo food market

Hello,

I'm in my trailer with the heat blasting, trying to warm up. It's cold today! Before I dive into my revisions for The Ruby Notebook, I thought I'd post another yummy Ecuadorian recipe from Maria Viriginia. This one's shrimp ceviche (which Wendell and Zeeta make together in The Indigo Notebook.) My Ecuadorian friends always serve this with tostado or popcorn.

Shrimp Ceviche (Serves four)

2 lbs of medium shrimp (de-veined and de-shelled)
5 medium tomatoes
1/3 bunch fresh cilantro (about 15 pieces)
4 large limes
3 medium white or yellow onions
About 1 tablespoon of salt (start off with less, then season to taste)
1 ½ cups water a tablespoon of olive oil

Boil the shrimp in 1 ½ cups boiling water for 5 minutes. Take out the shrimp and put in a large bowl. Save the water (you’ll use it later) and set aside to cool.

Boil another pot of water, and boil the tomatoes for 2 minutes. Then take out the tomatoes and peel off the skins. Put the peeled tomatoes in a blender with the water that the shrimp was boiled in, and add a teaspoon of salt. Blend until you have liquid tomato juice.

Cut each shrimp in half. Add the blended tomato juice to the bowl of shrimp. Chop the cilantro very finely and add to the mixture.

Next, soften the flavor of the onions: Cut the onions into thin slices and then cut the slices in half to form half-circles. Put the onions in a separate bowl and add a teaspoon of salt and a cup of water. Mix with your hands, crushing and breaking apart the pieces of onion. Drain out the water and add another cup of water to rinse. Drain again.

Add the onions and lime juice and olive oil to the shrimp mixture and mix all ingredients together.

Serve immediately with a side of rice and/or popcorn.

(Note that Maria doesn't usually measure ingredients, just eyeballs them, so you can adjust the quantities to your taste.)