Sea Urchin Ceviche with Orange Chile de Arbol Sauce
De Arbol (Capsicum Annuum) means tree like in Spanish. The plant has thick, upright, woody stems and the chile itself is narrow, curved and bright red in color. Believed to be closely related to the pequin, the De Arbol is thin fleshed, with tannic, smoky, grassy flavor and searing heat. This chile has a heat range of 7.5 on the heat scale of 1-10. De Arbol Chiles are comparable to a Cayenne Pepper. Scoville heat units 15,000 to 30,000.
Suggested Use:
De Arbol is a hot chile and a staple in Southwest kitchens. Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish. Be adventurous and add them to your next stew or chili along with the other spices Add some heat to your next salsa or Mexican dish.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh orange juice
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped ginger
1 lemongrass stalk, chopped
1 chile de arbol
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
2 fresh sea urchins
Cilantro leaves for garnish
Instructions:
In a medium saucepot, combine the orange juice with the shallot, ginger, lemongrass, chile de arbol, and garlic. Allow the orange juice to reduce by 2/3, then strain sauce and allow to cool. When sauce is cool, add lime juice.
With a pair of scissors, cut the top off each sea urchin, making sure to discard any shell that might have broken loose in the urchin. With a paring knife, scoop and detach the urchin from its shell. When this is done, spoon the sauce over the urchins, garnish with cilantro leaves, and allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Serves 2.
From Aaron Sanchez, Foodnetwork.com