Patacones with Shrimp Ceviche

These Patacones topped with a delicious Shrimp Ceviche are very easy to prepare and ideal to serve as a delicious appetizer.

A couple of tips I've just learned when making ceviche:

1. Blanch your seafood quickly in salted, boiling water.  The citric acid in the limes cooks the fish so you would never know you were eating raw fish, in fact, it is not raw. The longer you let the shrimp marinate, they will start to break down and get mushy, this is why I blanch mine in boiling water, it helps cook them a bit without having to sit in the citrus for to long. Does that make sense? ;-/

2. Even though you don't want to let the shrimp sit in the lime juice by themselves for more than a couple of hours, ceviche tastes great the next day when all the other ingredients have had some time to mingle.

INGREDIENTS

(12 Patacones)
2 Pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 limes, juice only
1 fresh tomato, cored and diced
1 bunch cilantro chopped

1 cups tomato juice cocktail

1 medium cucumber, seeds removed and diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1-2 fresh jalepeños, veins removed and diced

3 firm, ripe avocados pitted and diced

1 teaspoons red chili powder

1 tablespoon sea salt for boiling water

DIRECTIONS

1. Make 12 Patacones or baked green plantains, cover with foil and set aside.

2. Boil water in a large stock pot, add sea salt. Blanch the shrimp for only 30 seconds, NO MORE.  Drain in a colander. Spread  in a deep baking dish, soak in lime juice and cover with foil.  Place in refrigerator for about 1-2 hours. The longer you let the shrimp "cook" in the citric acid, the mushier they will get. 

3. Remove marinated shrimp from fridge and combine all ingredients.

4. Chill for at least 1 hour. Serve on top of patacones and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Accompany with a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio.