Sea Bream Ceviche with Leche de Tigre & Charred Corn

⏱ 30 min · Serves 4

Ice-cold cubes of sea bream bathed in a punchy, gingery leche de tigre, with smoky charred sweetcorn, red onion slivers and a slick of chilli oil. Fifteen minutes of knife work for something that tastes like a Lima seafood bar.

Per serving: 268 kcal · 29.0g protein · 21.0g carbs · 8.0g fat

Ingredients

• 500g very fresh sea bream fillets, skinned and pin-boned
• 2 corn on the cob (or 250g frozen corn kernels)
• 12 limes (about 250ml juice)
• 1 small red onion, sliced paper-thin
• 1 aji amarillo (or 1 red chilli), deseeded and chopped
• 20g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 50g sea bream trimmings (for the leche de tigre)
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp ice-cold water
• Small bunch coriander, leaves picked, stalks reserved
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp toasted chilli flakes (optional, for chilli oil)
• 1 sweet potato, peeled, sliced and boiled until tender (optional, to serve)

Method

1. Soak the sliced red onion in ice water for 10 minutes, then drain well — this keeps it crisp and takes off the harsh edge.
2. Char the corn: rub the cobs with a little oil and blister over a gas flame, griddle pan or hot barbecue until blackened in patches, 6–8 minutes, turning. Cool, then slice the kernels off. (Frozen corn: dry-fry in a hot pan until scorched.)
3. Make the leche de tigre: blitz the lime juice, ginger, garlic, celery, coriander stalks, aji amarillo, the 50g fish trimmings, 1 tsp salt and the ice water until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing gently. Chill.
4. Cut the sea bream into clean 1.5cm cubes, keeping everything ice-cold. Pat dry and chill until serving.
5. Warm the olive oil with the chilli flakes for 30 seconds, then set aside to infuse.
6. To serve, season the fish lightly with salt, then pour over enough leche de tigre to bathe it generously. Leave 2–3 minutes only — the fish should be just turning opaque at the edges.
7. Spoon into chilled bowls with plenty of the milk, scatter with charred corn, drained red onion and coriander leaves. Drizzle with chilli oil and add sweet potato slices alongside. Eat immediately, spoon in hand.