Ceviche de Atún Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui Tuna Ceviche with Kumara)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp sashimi knife or thin chef's knife for clean fish cubes
• •Medium saucepan for the kumara
• •Wide nonreactive glass or stainless steel mixing bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the kumara

   Put the kumara in a pot, cover with cool water, salt the water, and simmer until a knife slides through without forcing, about 18 to 22 minutes depending on size. Drain and let them cool just enough to handle, then peel if you like and cut into thick rounds or wedges. The sweet root is not decoration here. It steadies the bright fish and brings the canoe-crop memory back to the plate.

2. 2

   Set the onion

   Put the sliced red onion in a small bowl with a pinch of salt and a spoonful of the lemon juice. Rub it lightly with your fingers and let it sit while you cut the fish. That little rest takes the sharp bite down but leaves the onion crisp.

3. 3

   Cut the fish

   Cut the tuna into clean three-quarter-inch cubes with a sharp knife, keeping the pieces cold and tidy. Fresh fish for raw eating should smell like the ocean and almost nothing else. If it smells tired, no make it raw. Cook it instead, and no shame in that.

   Ask the fish seller when it came out of the water and whether it is meant for raw eating. Price tells you less than the person who handled the fish.
4. 4

   Turn with lemon

   Toss the tuna with the remaining lemon juice and the sea salt. Let it sit 5 to 8 minutes, just until the outside turns pale and glossy while the center stays soft and rosy. The lemon is tightening the fish, not fixing bad fish and not cooking it all the way through. Leave it too long and it goes firm and dry.

5. 5

   Fold the bowl

   Drain off a spoonful or two of the sharp lemon if the bowl looks flooded, then fold in the onion, chili, cilantro, cucumber, tomato, and oil. Taste for salt and lemon. It should be clean, bright, and alive, with the tuna still tender and the vegetables still crisp.

6. 6

   Serve with kumara

   Lay the kumara on a wooden platter or banana leaf and spoon the ceviche beside it, not piled so high the fish warms up. Serve right away with lemon wedges. This is quick food, but not careless food. Same fish, different bowl, and this bowl belongs to Rapa Nui.

Chef Tips

• •Fish first, always. Buy tuna from somebody who can tell you when it was landed and how it was kept. The lemon is seasoning, not a rescue plan.
• •Rapa Nui sits inside the Polynesian family, but this ceviche carries the Chilean layer too. Say both parts clearly and the dish gets more honest, not less.
• •No kumara in the market? Use orange or white sweet potato. Eat what you have, but keep the sweet root on the plate if you can.
• •Cilantro and chili are part of the contemporary ceviche hand here. If your table wants less heat, slice the chili on the side and let people choose.
• •Make it close to the table. Raw fish in acid waits for no one; the texture is best within 20 minutes of dressing.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the kumara up to 1 day ahead, chill it whole, then slice it before serving.
• •Slice the onion, chili, cucumber, and tomato up to 4 hours ahead and keep them covered and cold.
• •Do not marinate the tuna ahead. Cut it cold, dress it close to serving, and eat it the same hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 310g)