Added on Thursday, April 9, 2009  Fish Post

Southern Seviche 2009

Southern Seviche

Well, I know most southern boys. When it comes to fish, they want it grilled or fried; however, sometimes we need to watch our beautiful fishing figures. 

I learned just such a healthy recipe from my mom and have added a few things to it over the years. The dish is great for parties, appetizers, etc., and it goes great on garlic bread, fried chips, toast, crackers, or whatever your heart desires. 

The recipe will need to sit over night, as the juice from the lemons and limes will “cook” the seafood. 

The recipe is for scallops, but any of your fresh catch (such as flounder, oysters, grouper, shrimp-basically any fresh white fish) will do. 

If you don’t have time to fish, the next best thing is to shop locally. I generally will take a stroll down to Wrightsville Beach and whip into Motts Channel Seafood (a real fish house, not a grocery store chain). 

There are only a few real fish houses left locally. Each seems to have their own niche, so I encourage you to support your local seafood market (by the way, soon Motts will have fresh produce). 

So back to the recipe. This is what you will need:

1 lb. dry scallops (cut into bite-sized pieces)

Juice from 2 lemons and 3 limes

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large clove of fresh garlic finely chopped

1 green pepper finely chopped

1 small sweet onion finely chopped

1 jalapeño de-seeded and chopped

1 small bunch of fresh cilantro chopped (wash and dry in paper towel first)

1 small can sliced black olives drained (optional)

1 teaspoon salt (kosher or sea salt)

2 dashes Texas Pete

Pinch of black pepper

Now add all the ingredients together and gently stir them. Add the black pepper last as you stir lightly. 

Cover the dish with plastic wrap, and push the wrap down so the plastic is touching the ingredients. 

Let the seviche sit over night.  When you are ready to eat, simply drain the juice and serve.

Danny Hieronymus was born and raised in Wrightsville Beach into a commercial fishing family and has been catching fish throughout NC all his life.  He has also been cooking with his mother since he was 8 years old in the family restaurant. He can be reached at capefearcookin@yahoo.com.