BajaNomad

Baja style Bonito ceviche

redhilltown - 10-18-2014 at 11:14 PM

I guess I could google it but trust Nomads a bit more! The pate style of Bonito (a) ceviche that I have had a few times in Baja...is it just cut and "mushed" with a fork? Would love to hear some ideas.

bajagrouper - 10-19-2014 at 02:17 PM

I have never used a fish from the mackerel family for ceviche, only firm white meat fish, best I ever had was a Golden Cabrilla in Loreto many years ago........
Over here on the mainland we have lots of Dorado for ceviche...........

DavidT - 10-19-2014 at 03:11 PM

In Deborah Schneider's book "Baja Cooking on the Edge" she writes about ceviche being coarse ground through a meat grinder. With tuna or generic white fish used in Ensenada and mackerel often used in Cabo.

redhilltown - 10-20-2014 at 12:00 AM

I have had Sierra and Bonito in Baja both prepared in a more pate style than the chunk style typical of ceviche (like trigger.......yuuuum!). Was just wondering if they use the lime first and then "reduce it" or if they cut it up finely and then use the lime. It is dynamite no matter what they do.

bajabuddha - 10-20-2014 at 02:38 AM

Sierra makes excellent ceviche, and I believe it's in the Mackerel family. It's a delicate fish, needs bled/chilled immediately after caught; the meat can go to mush in a hurry if not cared for.

Regardless of the species, I like my fish finely diced; I don't 'rice' it in a grinder, and I've had large chunk ceviche from many fish, and didn't care for it as much as finely chopped; same with the pico de gallo salsa I mix it with, all finely diced. I try not to overload it with too much veggies OR lime, you can over-do any of the above... even just limed fish is tasty. Minimum hour to two hour sit-time in the lime juice and the fish turns opaque and looks 'cooked', and off to the races! I serve mine either on a Ritz (everything sits better on a Ritz) or a tostada shell or totopo with Mexican mayonesa. On the side for those that want an ole-pa-zing is a bottle of Cholula, Tapatio, and Sriracha for your sniffling enjoyment. Even plain old sand bass is totally fine for carne.

Bob53 - 10-20-2014 at 12:59 PM

I like using triggerfish that has been chopped into rather small pieces. Scallops are great too.

MitchMan - 11-4-2014 at 03:34 PM

I used to think that bonito was just another type of mackerel until I was on a party boat out of Dana Point on weekend skippered by a young guy who was a full time policeman.

He kept saying over the loud speaker that bonito were biting and that bonito was really good eating. Well, I have tried it before and was like trying to eat cooked mackerel...not edible in my view, bitter dark meat with a wet balsa wood texture.

When we started catching bonito left and right, the skipper came out, got a few freshly caught, immediately bled and fileted bonito and headed toward the galley. He came back after about 10 minutes or less with a Tupperware full of little chunks of butter and garlic seasoned and sautéed bonito.

It was delicious! It was very white meat, soft texture and taste similar to a cross between halibut and flounder, actually a bit flakey. Unbelievable and forever changed my mind about bonito. But, it must be bled and gutted immediately after catching.

Side note: went panga fishing out of Los Muertos last Wednesday and had the skipper bleed and gut all the Dorado I caught immediately after gaffing and putting the fish on board. Also, I brought plenty of ice to put over the catch; also a must. Further, when he fileted the fish back on shore, I had him put the fresh cut filet immediately into a zip lock freezer bag and NOT rinse the filet in sea water at all...just straight from the carcass into the freezer bag. The skipper was amazed at how white the meat was.

When I got home and further trimmed and wrapped the filets, the fish meat was very white. For the next two days I had Dorado filet meat for breakfast and for dinner and it was absolutely delicious with that perfect Mahi Mahi texture and soft and delicately musty unique flavor...better than ever before. It was flakey.

Moral of the story is that if you do not immediately bleed the fish and put under adequate ice when you are out on the water, your fish meat will suffer big time and the difference in flavor and texture will be like night and day.

woody with a view - 11-4-2014 at 03:46 PM

bleed bonito, filet and toss on BBQ, flake with a fork and have yourself the best "tuna fish" samich you've ever had! also great as a dip so I think ceviche would work. the slight smokiness is unreal on a samich!

Cliffy - 2-4-2016 at 08:21 PM

I'm presuming that you remove the dark lateral line when preping to eat

alacran - 2-4-2016 at 09:33 PM

Sorry but what is "samich"

BigBearRider - 2-4-2016 at 09:40 PM

Sandwich.

Genecag - 2-5-2016 at 09:59 AM

There seems to be 2 types of bonito. Fishing from La Paz and bahia de los muertos, the panga captain showed us the difference between the white meat and red meat bonitos. The white meat bonito were a little fatter and shorter with different pattern.

Ate the bonito sashimi and was delicious. The texture was more like flounder, chewy and lightly sweet.

JakeinVegas - 2-5-2016 at 10:11 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Genecag  
There seems to be 2 types of bonito. Fishing from La Paz and bahia de los muertos, the panga captain showed us the difference between the white meat and red meat bonitos. The white meat bonito were a little fatter and shorter with different pattern.

Genecag. Perhaps the fish with the darker meat you are referring to was actually a skipjack. A few years ago we caught some skipjack and the panguero assured us they were bonito and very good to eat. When I got home I checked the pictures and learned the difference between skipjack and bonito. I have had both and did not care for the skipjack but maybe I just need to improve my method of preparation.

Russ - 2-5-2016 at 10:37 AM

Genecag Bonito and skipjack are similar in size and coloring. I usually forget which is which when I make the catch. Usually skipjack around Chivato and very few keep them except for chunk bait. Bonita as we called them years back,were considered a great fertilizer. My have times changed.


Screen Shot 2016-02-05 at 10.15.04 AM.png - 50kB

[Edited on 2-5-2016 by Russ]

willardguy - 2-5-2016 at 11:29 AM

when your out in Les and Blanca country stop by the Progresso cannery and pick up some smoked yellowtail and bonito jerky,delicious!;)

[Edited on 2-5-2016 by willardguy]

Tomas Tierra - 2-5-2016 at 11:50 AM

Bonito (treated correctly after catch) can be very good sashimi....
And good for Poki too.....

durrelllrobert - 2-5-2016 at 12:14 PM

Quote: Originally posted by redhilltown  
I have had Sierra and Bonito in Baja both prepared in a more pate style than the chunk style typical of ceviche (like trigger.......yuuuum!). Was just wondering if they use the lime first and then "reduce it" or if they cut it up finely and then use the lime. It is dynamite no matter what they do.


I agree, trigger fish makes the best but yellowtail ain't bad if you add some chilis and onions to mix.

hombre66 - 2-5-2016 at 02:02 PM

The softer the fish, the faster it "cooks" in lime. Bass ,Cabrilla, Trigs: I like to let them marinade a minimum of 6 hrs. As little 2 Hrs on the softies like Barred Perch, Sierra, Bonita/Skippies (definately cut out the brown, it'll never not taste fishy). Somewhere in between for croakers and Halibut. My cracker of choice: Ak Mak (an acquired taste). Bottom line, I'll take it any way I can get it!

AKgringo - 2-5-2016 at 02:47 PM

I was first introduced to ceviche around Manzanillo on the mainland, and Sierra mackerel was the fish of choice there (they run much larger than the ones around Baja).

The best ceviche I ever had, I made myself from Sockeye salmon! I used a recipe from the book 'Smoking Salmon and Trout', by Jack Whelan. I can not remember who I loaned it to, or I would try to recite it here, but the proportions would be just a guess.

If you feel like experimenting with your fish of choice, it basically consisted of a mix of Key lime juice, white wine vinegar, sliced white onions that had been brined over night, fresh cilantro, and an optional Serrano or jalapeno pepper.

I used a course grinder, but finely chopped should work well. It would be easy to overdo any of the ingredients, but in the right proportions, it is wonderful!

Edit; I think in the recipe book, the author indicated this was more of a Caribbean style, not Baja, but it works!

[Edited on 2-5-2016 by AKgringo]

Genecag - 2-6-2016 at 11:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JakeinVegas  
Quote: Originally posted by Genecag  
There seems to be 2 types of bonito. Fishing from La Paz and bahia de los muertos, the panga captain showed us the difference between the white meat and red meat bonitos. The white meat bonito were a little fatter and shorter with different pattern.

Genecag. Perhaps the fish with the darker meat you are referring to was actually a skipjack. A few years ago we caught some skipjack and the panguero assured us they were bonito and very good to eat. When I got home I checked the pictures and learned the difference between skipjack and bonito. I have had both and did not care for the skipjack but maybe I just need to improve my method of preparation.


Right, 'JakeinVegas and 'Russ' that must be it. We ate the skip jack Tuna as sashimi right on the boat and loved the chewy firm texture. I have noticed that some fish used for ceviche do not take the lime acid well. Turns the flesh grainy.... example red tuna and lime not a good idea.

hombre66 - 2-6-2016 at 07:42 PM

AK.. Never thought about vinegar. Gonna ad it to my next batch of rock cod ceviche.

SuperScrappy - 2-7-2016 at 08:02 AM

I use rice wine vinegar sometime with my cevechi. It has a little sweetness to it and it balances out the flavor. Bonito works great but personally like it better for machaca

Sweetwater - 2-7-2016 at 10:35 AM

Mmmmmmm, ceviche at Yolanda's.......



hombre66 - 2-7-2016 at 07:28 PM

Mouthwatering photo. Would you care for a little hot sauce with your ceviche?

Cancamo - 4-13-2016 at 09:12 AM

Skipjack, (barilette) have three to four distinct black spots under their gill plate.
Bonito have small teeth.
Neither to be confused with Barilette Blanco, a white skipjack caught in good numbers around here last year, similar to bonito in flavor, good for sashimi.

Never "cooked" ceviche in lime juice more than 30 minutes, (often less), just long enough to turn white. No need longer than that, just stir it a few times, and completely drain all the juice out, then add chile, onion, tomatoe, cilantro.....mango as well if available, pineapple...

durrelllrobert - 4-13-2016 at 09:47 AM

Just watch Andrew Zimmer eating tuna eyeball ceviche on Hawaii episode of Bizzar food Destinations. Yuuk

Hook - 4-13-2016 at 10:04 AM

I really think cumin is a mandatory ingredient in ceviche. Sets off the ever-present acidity of lime/vinegar and peppers, nicely, in combination with salt. Also goes good with chucks of avocado that I put in most all of my ceviche. You just need to add the avo at the very end, so it doesnt end up all smushed.

Also prefer red onion over white and like the flavor of jalapeno over serrano.

I'm kind of a medium chunk guy; I always shoot for chunks about 1/4-3/8".

woody with a view - 4-13-2016 at 11:38 AM

For a nice change of pace look up a recipe for Peruvian ceviche with corn and sweet potato wheels to sop up the lime juice.

Martyman - 4-13-2016 at 12:51 PM

Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
For a nice change of pace look up a recipe for Peruvian ceviche with corn and sweet potato wheels to sop up the lime juice.


Went to Peru in January. Some of the restaurants had 5-8 different ceviches on the menu. Yum!

bajaric - 4-13-2016 at 01:18 PM

For Bonito another option is to wrap it in bacon and bake it, but you have to like seafood
a lot
Must say Mackerel is good if consumed immediately out of clean waters but to keep it on topic who else has some good ceviche

willardguy - 4-13-2016 at 01:26 PM

I buy it fresh made daily at the la playa fish market 6th st tijuana. I've made it all different ways but like theirs the best! always pick some up when buying smoked tuna, delicious. ;)

weebray - 4-13-2016 at 04:49 PM

I like to cut bonito or skipjack in to small pieces.............and use it for bait.

durrelllrobert - 4-13-2016 at 04:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by Martyman  
Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  
For a nice change of pace look up a recipe for Peruvian ceviche with corn and sweet potato wheels to sop up the lime juice.


Went to Peru in January. Some of the restaurants had 5-8 different ceviches on the menu. Yum!


www.foodnetwork.com › Recipes & How-Tos

woody with a view - 4-13-2016 at 05:00 PM

we cut the cooked corn and sweet potato into 1-2" wheels. the rest looks right!

mtgoat666 - 4-13-2016 at 07:19 PM

In Baja the Trigger fish or scallop makes the best ceviche. Just telling the truth!