Till today, I had not heard of Langostinos nor had I enjoyed Ceviche. Yes, I have skeptically tasted it once from my husband’s plate who likes ordering Ceviche in seafood restaurants. Yes, had also seen it once made in a cooking class by a fellow instructor @ Faradays Kitchen; Also saw it made by Austin chef Parind Vora in his appearance on the Food Network show ‘Chopped’. But today I saw the whole making process and enjoyed eating this seafood delicacy made with Langostinos.
What is Langostinos?
Well that was my question too, since I had not heard of this before. It’s a meat taken out of the squat lobster which is related to the crab family, or crawfish and tastes like lobsters or prawns. It’s a little sweeter than the prawns in taste.
Ceviche – (“Seh-VEE- Chay”) is a popular seafood delicacy from South American origin. The main ingredient of this dish is the raw fish, like flounder or bass cut is small bites sizes and marinated in citric juices and seasonings.
But if you want to try Ceviche and are skeptical like me about raw fish ( though I love sushi but not all kinds), Langostinos Ceviche is a great recipe. Langostinos are fully cooked and are sold in frozen bags called ‘Langostinos Lobster Tails’ in stores like Costco or Trader Joe’s.(Austin’s first Trader Joe just opened this Friday.)
Where did I have this delicacy?
I am blessed to have great neighbors and friends and this is where I enjoyed the Ceviche. Earlier in the evening, I almost crashed into my neighbor’s car reversing out of the driveway, dashing to the grocery for the necessary ingredients for Ceviche! My neighbors had their very good friend visiting from out of town, who was to make Ceviche from the Langostinos lobster tails packet sitting in my neighbors’ refrigerator.
This friend is an ardent food enthusiast who felt cooking a therapeutic exercise, had professional knife skills, and knew how to match seasonings to his taste buds.
The recipe below is written on an approximation after watching the making process. But the art of Ceviche is to play around with the amount of seasonings to please your taste, so it’s flexible.
Recipe:
Serves: 10
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
Ingredients:
• 2 lbs of cooked Langostino meat,
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 10 -12 cherry tomatoes, halved or sliced.
• 1 mango. Fine cubed
• ½ cup to ¾ Lime juice
• 2 Serrano peppers or jalapeno peppers, chopped
• ½ cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 pinch cumin powder
• 1 -2 tblsp Honey
• Himalayan pink salt or any Salt to taste
-First chop the red onions, cherry tomatoes, Serrano or jalapeno peppers, mango, and cilantro and set aside on the chopping board.
-Next wash the Langostinos and set aside in a large glass bowl.
-Take out lime juice out of fresh limes and set aside. Trick to take out most juice is to roll them under the palm of your hand before you cut and squeeze.
-Now it’s time to mix the Langostinos with the onions, tomatoes, mango, peppers, cilantro and lime juice. Also add a pinch of cumin powder, salt, and honey and toss it gently.
-Cover this and set it aside for an hour for the flavors of peppers, red onions, lime juice to marinate the Langostinos.
-Take it out after an hour or more and serve in small martini glasses with a garnish of cilantro or mint.
This is an appetizer which is unique and delicious without actually cooking it!
Enjoy and cheers to good friends 😉