Dry Aged Summer Sheephead Ceviche

Recipe by Eric Keener

We had recently shot a large Sheephead and decided to use it in a big meal. The main course was ridiculously simple, make-it-in-10-minutes, Grilled Stuffed Sheep Burritos with Pickled Onion and Habanero. You can find that recipe here.

This tropical recipe is best enjoyed on a warm day, served very cold. The juice of the fruit enzymes will break down the meat quickly, so be sure to enjoy as fresh as possible! The thicker your fillet of fish, the longer it should dry age. For this meal, the Sheephead was pretty large and the fillets were thick, so it aged for 36 hours (28 hours wrapped in plastic and buried in ice, 8 hours dry aging on a rack in the fridge before bathing it in lime juice). For more information on how to properly dry age a fish, click here. Feel free to explore other flavors or proteins like shrimp, scallops or salmon.

Ingredients

• Dry Aged Sheephead fillets, cut to 3/4” cubes

• 8-12 Limes, juiced and divided (enough to cover fillets fully plus 3 Tbsp extra to add)

• 1 C Pineapple, cubed

• 1/2 C Blood Orange, cubed

• 1 Orange, half juiced, half cubed

• 1/2 Pomegranate, seeded

• 2 Habanero peppers, seeded and finely chopped

• 1 Mango, cubed

• 1.5 C cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1/2 Medium Red Onion, thin sliced

• 1 Bunch Cilantro, rough chopped

• 1 Tbsp Coconut / Olive Oil

• Sea Salt (learn how to make sea salt here)

• Pepper

• Tortilla Chips, on the side

Method

After you finish aging your fillets (see the how to link above), cube it, add it to a bowl, cover it completely in lime juice, press plastic wrap down over the top to keep air off of it and put in the fridge over night. The following day, an hour before you’re ready to serve it, drain the lime juice from the fish, add all ingredients to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Let it sit in the fridge long enough to get nice a cold, then serve and enjoy!