How I Made a Vegan Aguachile

I love to watch cooking shows and competitions, and one appetizer that I see made often is aguachile and ceviche. Aguachile and ceviche are popular Mexican appetizers made with raw seafood that is cooked in acid. They always look so delicious and make me want to taste them. So, I thought to myself, is it possible to make a plant-based version with no seafood? Of course, it is! Full disclosure, I have never eaten the original version, so I can't speak to the comparison. However, I can say that this version tastes amazing. It is refreshing with that bit of heat balanced out with acid.

There is also that salty component. You can use any kind of salt, I would just be consciuos of how salty it is. I like celtic salt because of the health benefits. However, it is not a super salty salt, so you may need to adjust the salt to taste.

How I Made a Vegan Aguachile

Equipment

A food processor to blend marinade.

A mandolin for thinly sliced onions and cucumbers.

Ingredients

1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced with a mandolin

1 tsp White Vinegar

Water to cover onions

Marinade

3/4 cup lime juice

1 garlic clove or 4 tsp minced garlic

1 cup Cilantro (half a bunch)

2 Jalapeños

1 Serrano chili

1 tsp salt

1/2 - 1 Nori Sheet, optional

Garnish

1/2 of a large Cucumber sliced with a mandolin

A pinch of salt

3-4 Cilantro stems

Tortilla Chips

Step 1: First, slice the red onion. Cover the slices with water and add white vinegar. Set the onions aside.

Step 2: Slice cucumbers. Slice the cucumbers so that they are thin but not too transparent. Lightly salt the cucumbers in a bowl and set aside. I like to keep mine in the refrigerator so they will be cold when I'm ready to use them.

Step 3: Slice peppers in half. It is okay to leave the seeds.

Step 4: Make the marinade by adding cilantro (stems okay), garlic, peppers, broken-up nori sheet, salt, and lime juice to a food processor and mix until all ingredients are blended well together. It may be slightly dark depending on how much nori is used. The nori is meant to give it that seafood taste. You can opt to leave it out if you don't want the seafood flavor.

Step 5: Take the marinade and pour it into a bowl. Add cucumbers and red onions. Then garnish with cilantro.

Step 6: Enjoy! I ate it with tortilla chips like a dip.

You can also add other toppings and garnishes, such as avocado, radishes, and avocado oil.

KiraCutz Photography