Tiradito

Ingredients

• 600 g white-fleshed saltwater fish fillet, sashimi-quality; skinned and pin-boned
• For the ají amarillo cream sauce
• 3 ají amarillo chillies, seeded and deveined, or paste equivalent
• 60 ml evaporated milk
• 90 ml fresh lime juice, strained
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 chilled serving plates, refrigerator-cold before plating

Method

1. 1
   Place the fish fillet on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes. The surface should be firm and slightly resistant to the fingertip — semi-frozen, not hard through — which allows thinner, cleaner cuts than fully thawed fish produces.
2. 2
   Combine the ají amarillo, evaporated milk, lime juice, and salt. Blend until smooth and pass through a fine sieve. Refrigerate the sauce immediately; it must be cold at the moment of dressing.
3. 3
   Using a sharp knife, cut the fish on the bias into slices no thicker than 5 mm, each completed in a single, uninterrupted draw of the blade. This is where the dish lives or dies: a dull blade or a sawing motion tears the fish structure, creating ragged edges that absorb acid unevenly and collapse the instantaneous-cure concept the dish is built on. The cut surface should be clean, smooth, and slightly translucent.
4. 4
   Fan the slices in a single layer across the chilled plates. Spoon or pour the cold ají amarillo sauce evenly over the fish. Serve immediately — the sauce must reach the table within 30 seconds of contacting the fish. The fish should appear glistening and the sauce vivid yellow-orange; the slices remain distinct and intact, not beginning to contract or turn opaque.