Michelle Bernstein discovered authentic seviches during a trip to Peru. One of her favorite preparations combines several types of raw seafood with celery, garlic, cilantro, lime juice and lots of salt. The unusual ingredient is ají amarillo, a spicy yellow-pepper paste (sold in tubes) that turns the seviche a bright yellow color. Bernstein prefers to quickly cook most of the seafood with Old Bay seasoning, then add fresh ginger for extra kick. More Latin American Recipes
How to Make It
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Prepare a medium bowl of ice water. Add the Old Bay seasoning and the shrimp and scallops to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. With a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp and scallops to the ice water bath. Add the squid to the boiling water and cook for 5 seconds, then transfer to the ice water bath. Add the clams to the saucepan and boil until they open, then transfer them to a separate bowl.
Remove the clams from their shells. Drain the shrimp, scallops and squid and pat dry. In a large, shallow dish, combine the shrimp, scallops, squid, clams and snapper. Sprinkle with the salt, ginger, celery and habanero and toss. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Add the lime juice, cilantro and onion to the seviche. Season with pepper and toss well. Refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring twice. Spoon the seviche into martini glasses and serve.