Oyster ceviche with tiger’s milk

“Leche de tigre”, or “tiger’s milk”, is the South American name for the flavourful, sour liquid drained from a good ceviche. It contains the juices of the seafood and a bite of vinegar or citrus. This colourful oyster ceviche wouldn’t be complete without its tiger’s milk spiced up with a bit of Peruvian grape brandy, pisco. I prefer ceviche served immediately rather than left to cook for too long in the acid.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 dozen oysters, freshly shucked
• 1 tbsp finely diced tomato
• 125 ml (½ cup) lime juice
• ½ habanero chilli, seeds removed, thinly sliced
• ½ bird’s eye chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
• ¼ cup finely shredded coriander
• 1 small French shallot, finely chopped
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• ½ small Lebanese cucumber, peeled in intervals, very thinly sliced (optional)
• 100 ml pisco
• 1 pinch caster sugar

Instructions

Place a non-reactive bowl into a large bowl with iced water. Pour the juice from the oysters through a fine sieve into the bowl to remove any grit. Add the oysters to the bowl with the juice along with the tomato, lime juice, chillies, coriander, shallot, salt and cucumber. Stir to combine.

Using a slotted spoon, spoon the solids onto a chilled serving plate. Strain the tiger’s milk through a fine sieve into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Pour in the pisco, add the sugar, and shake until chilled.

Serve the oyster ceviche with shots of pisco tiger’s milk.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.