Imitation Crab Meat Ceviche

I'm very proud to say that my mom invented (okay, maybe not invented but perfected) this dish. Back in the day, when I was a wee child, we used to live in Tijuana, Mexico—yes, this is back in the 80's—and my grandpa used to bring us goodies from the U.S. One of the most peculiar of these goodies was a package of imitation crab meat. Since my mom had not used it before she decided to make it "ceviche" style and the rest, as they say, is history.

What is ceviche? [Usually] raw seafood marinated or “cooked” in a citrus mixture. When using seafood that is already cooked or par boiled, you do not need as much citrus (usually lime) mixture.

What are tostadas? Tostadas are toasted or fried whole corn tortillas. You can find them in the Latin foods section of your grocery store.

INGREDIENTS

• 16 oz. Imitation Crab Meat, cut into small bite size pieces
• 2 limes, halved
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 Jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/4 cup Cilantro leaves, lightly chopped
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Tostadas or good quality tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small glass bowl, add the diced red onion. Squeeze the juice of one lime (about 2 TBSP), 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and let it marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Add in the imitation crab meat, jalapeño, tomatoes, the marinated onion and the lime juice, and the cilantro leaves in a large bowl. Add an additional 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper, if needed (make sure you taste it first before adding salt). Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3. Just before serving, put the ceviche into your serving dish. Dice up the two avocados and add it to the ceviche and mix to combine. Squeeze in the remaining lime and serve with a side of tostadas or good quality tortilla chips.