Last Updated on July 25, 2023
Bold, bright, chunky, and crunchy, these shrimp tostadas are all about the balance of fresh flavors and textures with a rich base of buttery avocado on top of homemade fried corn tortillas. If it’s been a long winter, these tostadas might just have the power to lift you out of any sun deficiency, but more practically they’ll deeply satisfy your hunger and quest for flavor. To boot, shrimp ceviche has this sort of refined, casual elegance for something that literally is thrown in a bowl, tossed together and served within minutes.
To back up a little, usually ceviche is raw fish tossed with an acidic marinade, like citrus juice, until the fish becomes opaque and firms up. In this recipe most of the usual ceviche ingredients are here: fish, citrus juice, fresh chili and onion. Besides the ingredients, this recipe opts for a different technique of blanching shrimp first before tossing in all the ingredients. This saves some time and also ensures the shrimp are fully cooked for those that may be cautious about the science-y nature of citric acid and raw shrimp. You can get ahead on the tostadas and shrimp portion of the recipe too, about a couple hours before serving.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ButcherBox Shrimp defrosted, rinsed
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 8 corn tortillas
- Salt
- 2 persian cucumbers medium diced
- ¾ cup finely chopped or diced white onion
- 1 small serrano chili stemmed, sliced into very thin rings
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup basil leaves amount basil plus more for serving
- 3 large ripe avocados
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil and poach the shrimp by placing the shrimp in the hot water, making sure it comes to a boil again, if it stops. Shrimp are done cooking when thoroughly pink, about 3 to 5 minutes or registering 145 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Drain shrimp then transfer to a plate, place in the freezer or fridge until just chilled, about 10 to 20 minutes. Once cool, transfer to a cutting board and roughly chop and add to a large mixing bowl.
- Meanwhile, heat the canola oil 1 tablespoon at a time in a medium to large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, fry the tortillas in batches, adding more of the canola oil, as needed until thoroughly crisp, turning them as needed, about 3 minutes per tortilla. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, season with salt. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Add the cucumber, onion, jalapeno and lime and lemon juices to the shrimp mixing bowl. Mix well to combine and set aside.
- When ready to serve, roughly chop the ⅓ cup basil and mix in with the shrimp ceviche. Slice open, seed and scoop out the avocados to a small mixing bowl. Season with salt and mash with a fork until you have a rough and chunky, yet spreadable consistency. Spread the avocado on the tostadas, top with the shrimp ceviche and tear more basil over the top.
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