Prawn Ceviche Tostada Salad
Built on cooked cold king prawns, so there is no raw-fish window to manage — just lime, chilli and a board full of chopping.
Why it works
Using cooked cold king prawns means the lime is doing the seasoning rather than the curing, so the salad can stand for ten minutes without the protein going chalky the way raw fish does. Rinsing the sliced red onion under the cold tap for thirty seconds strips out the harshness but leaves the crunch, which is what makes a ceviche taste bright rather than aggressive.
Method
- Slice the onion as thinly as you can, put it in a sieve and run cold water over it for 30 seconds. Shake dry.
- In a large bowl, whisk the lime juice, aji amarillo, garlic, oil and salt until the mixture turns slightly cloudy — that cloudiness is the emulsion you want.
- Halve the prawns lengthways if they are large, then fold them in with the onion and leave 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, cucumber, sweetcorn, radishes and most of the coriander, turning gently. Fold the avocado in last so it stays in cubes.
- Crush the black beans to a rough paste with a fork, season with salt and a squeeze of lime, and spread it thickly over the tostadas — it glues the salad down and keeps the corn from shattering under it.
- Pile the ceviche onto the tostadas at the table — they soften within a couple of minutes of meeting the juice. Serve with the rest of the coriander and lime wedges.
For the toddler
The prawns are already cooked, but the lime, aji amarillo and raw onion they steep in are not for a toddler. Keep a few back at step 3, before the rest meet the lime, warm them through in a pan with a little oil and chop them small. Crush some black beans for them without the salt and lime. Tostada shards are too brittle, so give them a soft tortilla, and quarter the tomatoes lengthways.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Cooked white crab meat or cold poached white fish behave identically. For crunch without tostadas, use 60 g toasted pumpkin seeds.
Dice everything to the same size on one board and tip it into the bowl as you go.
Pickled jalapeños, and a bowl of soured cream or crumbled queso fresco to spoon over as you go.
The ceviche keeps overnight without the avocado. Never dress the tostadas ahead.