Peruvian Ceviche with Leche de Tigre

Rinse the Sea bass, pat it bone dry, wrap it and put it in the coldest part of the fridge for at least 20 min. Cold fish keeps its bite when the Limes hits it.

⚠ Tip: Ask for a piece cut from a whole fish, not a fillet that has been sitting in the counter. Freshness is the whole dish.

Boil the Sweet potatoes whole in salted water until a knife slides in with no resistance, about 20 min. Boil the Choclo until the kernels are tender and milky, about 8 min. Drain both, cool them completely, then peel and cut the sweet potato into thick slices.

Slice the Red onions paper-thin, rinse it under cold water and leave it in a bowl of iced water for 10 min. It loses its raw burn and turns crisp and sweet. Drain it hard and dry it in a cloth.

⚠ Tip: A dull knife crushes onion cells and makes it acrid. Sharpen up, or use a mandoline.

Cut the fish into 2 cm cubes, cutting across the grain and keeping every piece roughly the same size so they cure at the same speed. Keep the odd trimmings, about a small handful, for the leche. Put the cubes back in the fridge.

⚠ Tip: Not chilled before you start? Put the exact amount of ice you need into your lime water and chill all of it again before you pour it over the fish.

Halve the Limes and cut each half into quarters so they fit a citrus press. Press them one at a time and stop squeezing before you grind the white pith, which turns the juice bitter.

⚠ Tip: Roll the limes on the counter and press them just before use. Bottled lime juice tastes cooked and flat and will not cure the fish the same way.

Slit the Ají limo lengthways, scrape out the seeds and white pith with the tip of a knife and cut the flesh into fine rings. If you are using red chillies instead, keep a little of the seed in for extra fire.

Peel a single clove of Garlic and crush it flat with the side of a knife. One clove is enough: raw garlic in the leche can flatten the fish.

Put the fish trimmings, the Celery, the squeezed Limes juice, the Aji amarillo paste paste, the Coriander, the crushed clove, the Salt, the Vegetable oil and half the sliced Ají limo in a blender and run it until it is completely smooth and pale, about 1 min. It should smell sharp, green and marine, and taste hot, sour and salty in turns. Push it through a fine sieve, pressing hard on the solids, and throw away what stays behind.

⚠ Tip: If you have ice, blend a few cubes in with the Limes juice. The leche must stay ice-cold the whole way through.

Turn the fish cubes into a cold bowl and pour over leche de tigre, plus the 4 Ice. Toss once and leave it in the fridge for 7 min; the outside should go opaque, chalky white while the center stays glassy and raw.

⚠ Tip: Overcured ceviche goes rubbery and chalky. Set a timer; at the first opaque edge, it is done.

Lift the fish out of the leche with a slotted spoon and divide it between four chilled plates or bowls. Spoon a generous puddle of leche de tigre around each portion, right before it is eaten so the fish is still cold and just cured. Scatter the drained Red onions over the top, add a slice of Sweet potatoes, a spoonful of Choclo and a handful of Cancha, and finish with the rest of the rings of Ají limo. Serve at once, with the extra leche de tigre in a jug for drinking straight from the bowl.

⚠ Tip: Ceviche waits for no one. Dress the plates only at the table.