Name: Tiradito — thin-sliced fish with yellow ají
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 65 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 600 g boneless firm white fish suitable for raw service, skin removed, pin bones checked, chilled; 150 ml fresh lime juice, strained, seeds removed; 75 g ají amarillo paste, smooth, unsweetened; 10 g ají limo, deseeded, very finely chopped; 10 g coriander leaves, chopped; 5 g fine salt, measured; 350 g camote (sweet potato), peeled, cut into thick chunks; 250 g cooked choclo kernels, from large-kernel corn; 40 g lettuce leaves, washed and thoroughly dried; 1100 ml water for sweet potato, measured

Tiradito of thin-sliced fish dressed with lime and ají amarillo

Yield 4 portions

Prep 25 minutes

Cook 25 minutes

Passive 15 minutes

Total 65 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Tiradito of thin-sliced fish dressed with lime and ají amarillo

Tiradito is a Peruvian raw-fish preparation in which the cut is central: fish is laid out in delicate thin slices rather than the cubes more usual in fish ceviche. A citrus-and-ají dressing reaches the plate as a sauce, and red onion is not part of this style. Lima seafood cooking includes tiradito alongside ceviche, but the two names should not be used interchangeably just because both have fish and lime.

A chilled sharp knife gives clean slices that retain their shape. Use a fish supplier able to confirm appropriate handling for intended raw consumption, including relevant parasite-control processes, and handle the fish on a separate sanitized board. The yellow ají is a recognisable Peruvian ingredient with a distinct flavour, not just a generic yellow chilli. The mild sauce should pour over the fish without obscuring every slice.

As with ceviche, adding lime changes proteins at the surface but does not make raw fish safe in the way cooking to 63 °C does. Make the accompaniments first and chill them, then slice cold fish immediately before service. The plate is not a preparation for storage or a method of preservation. The result should be a tidy arrangement of thin fish with an evenly spooned dressing and separate sweet-potato and corn sides.

Ingredients

Fish and sauce

600 g boneless firm white fish suitable for raw service, skin removed, pin bones checked, chilled
150 ml fresh lime juice, strained, seeds removed
75 g ají amarillo paste, smooth, unsweetened
10 g ají limo, deseeded, very finely chopped
10 g coriander leaves, chopped
5 g fine salt, measured

Chilled sides

350 g camote (sweet potato), peeled, cut into thick chunks
250 g cooked choclo kernels, from large-kernel corn
40 g lettuce leaves, washed and thoroughly dried
1100 ml water for sweet potato, measured

Method

Cook the sweet potato.Put the 350 g camote into 1100 ml water, simmer gently for 25 minutes, then drain into a clean shallow container. A skewer should pass through the largest piece and the pieces should hold their shape.
Chill the cooked sides.Refrigerate the drained sweet potato with the 250 g already-cooked choclo in separate shallow containers for 15 minutes. Keep the 40 g lettuce chilled and dry. The sides should no longer steam and should hold their distinct shapes. Hold the cooked sides at 4 °C or below after cooling.
Mix the ají dressing.In a clean non-reactive bowl, whisk 75 g ají amarillo paste with 150 ml fresh lime juice, 10 g finely chopped ají limo and 5 g salt until smooth. Keep it chilled. The dressing should be pourable but slightly creamy, without grainy chilli lumps. This sauce is not a kill step for raw fish.
Slice the cold fish.On a sanitized fish board, use a long sharp knife to cut the 600 g chilled raw-service fish into thin slices across the grain without pounding or stretching them. Set them straight onto four chilled plates. Each slice should lift in one piece and lie flat with its edge visible. Keep raw fish chilled at 4 °C or below, and avoid contact with ready-to-eat produce.
Dress and finish.Spoon the cold yellow-ají dressing over the plated fish just before service, sprinkle on 10 g chopped coriander and arrange the chilled camote, choclo and lettuce beside it. The sauce should gleam over separate thin slices without creating a deep pool. Serve immediately; lime cannot eliminate the hazards of raw fish.

Practical

Practical guidance

Slice the fish after the plates and side dishes are arranged, not while the sweet potato is still boiling. A wide clean knife can produce thin slices without dragging through the flesh, whereas sawing tears the surface. If the ají paste is very dense, whisk patiently with the listed lime juice; do not dilute it with unmeasured water. The characteristic presentation contains no onion, even though onion is expected in many ceviche plates. Only prepare as much raw fish as will be eaten at once and do not keep leftover dressed raw fish for later service. Cooking the fish to 63 °C is safer but would change the dish into a different cooked-fish preparation. The cold chain and sound supplier selection reduce but cannot eliminate the risk.

Control points

Texture and handlingIf fish slices tear, the knife is blunt or the fillet has warmed; chill the fish and use one long slicing stroke.
Finish and recoveryIf the sauce hides the fish under an opaque mound, the ají paste has not dispersed; whisk it thoroughly with the measured lime juice before dressing.

Nutrition per serving

Serving size1 of 4 starter portions
Calories295 kcal
Carbohydrate36.4 g
Protein32.8 g
Fat2.9 g
Fibre4.8 g
Sodium655 mg

Allergens and food safety

Contains fish. Use only fish appropriately managed for raw use and keep it at 4 °C or below. Raw fish can contain harmful bacteria or parasites despite freezing or citrus. Pregnant people, young children, older adults and immunocompromised people should avoid this raw preparation.

Closing

On the plate: Thin-sliced raw Peruvian fish with an ají amarillo citrus dressing, distinct from cubed, onion-containing fish ceviche.
Control that matters: An ají amarillo tiradito without red onion; regional and restaurant sauces vary.