Good Eats had an episode about catfish the other day, as part of a few shows about sustainable seafood. While he covered his bases with a part about classic fried catfish, the real jaw-dropper was the recipe for catfish ceviche. Personally, I’ve never really thought of things beside scallops, shrimp or halibut in my ceviche, but this sounded interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. I also loved the sustainability component of it — catfish are relatively low on the fish food chain, so they take to farming relatively well, and can be easily produced in the U.S.
I bought about 3/4 lbs from Whole Foods, took it home, and began cutting it into roughly 1/2 inch cubes. I followed the recipe for the most part, choosing to substitute parsley for cilantro and some lemon juice for a portion of the lime juice. I had seen parsley used in another recipe, and since cilantro usually goes unused around my house, I figured parsley would be better because I could whip up some tabouli later.
Overall, it came out great. The catfish was a surprisingly good choice, and the combination of tartness, sweetness and creaminess (from the avocado) went perfectly. Paired with someEl Ranchero tortilla chips made an excellent dip. Going forward, I’d cut the fish into smaller pieces since the texture might be better, but other than that, highly recommended!