Vegan Ceviche

 

I really enjoy ceviche. However, I wanted a vegan option based on the standard fermented vegetables recipe. Rather than use lots of salt and lemon as per the regular fish ceviche recipe, my vegan version will allow the salt and souring of the brine to deliver those same properties of saltiness and acidity.

In some cultures, the ceviche is served with a dash of ketchup and may even be tossed into a bag of crispy tortilla chips and together called a 'caldosa'. I am not yet making crispy chips. However, since it is possible to make fermented ketchup (below), I was also keen to create my own. BTW, I was unsuccessful in preventing my ketchup from molding. However, the recipe rendered fantastic results that can likely be refrigerated with better success.

You will need the following vegetable combination. Place it in brine and proceed as normal in my usual fermented vegetables recipe.

• Fish substitute: Diced
• palm hearts, fresh (source of protein) 
• cauliflower (source of vitamins C and K)
• Cilantro, chopped
• red onions, chopped
• sweet peppers, chopped
• nori sheet, finely shredded (optional for a seafood flavor)

    

Optional: Fermented tomato ketchup to be added only when you will eat the ceviche. For some reason, when I try to add my ketchup to the ferment, the ferment fails.

CONTENT RELATED TO VEGAN CEVICHE

• Speedup digestion
• Fermented foods
• Sauerkraut (full instructions)
• Fermented vegetables
• Vegan ceviche
• Fermented garlic in honey
• Ginger bug
• Fermented drinks (ginger ale, fermented lemonade, etc)
• Cheong: sweet fermented syrup
• High protein yogurt with chickpeas
• Extra creamy yogurt with oats
• DIY chickpea yogurt
• Oat yogurt
• Vegan milks and other drinks
• Creamy rice milk
• Water kefir
• Tofu
• Chickpea tofu
• Breakfast or snacks
• Vegan Caribbean Christmas cake
• Pink (beetroot) pancake recipe
• Tortillas (Green spinach)
• Protein granola bar
• Pizza
• Barbadian (aka Bajan) conkies
• Rice and beans aka gallo pinto
• Other
• Vegan eggs
• Topping (guacamole inspired)
• Papaya salad to improve enzyme activity and improve digestive health
• Sprouts (lentils)
• Ghee (not vegan)
• Agar agar (medicinal superfood great for making vegan flan with vegan milks)

Fermented tomato ketchup recipe (loosely inspired by Mary's Nest)

• 1.5 cups tomato paste (home made or store bought)
• 4 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
• 0.5 tbsp Worchestire sauce
• sweetener: sugar (white or brown), maple syrup, etc
• 1/4 cup extra water from fermented vegan ceviche or other vegetables -- OR -- a combination of the following
• water, non chlorinated with
• 4 tsp liquid fermentation starter using a well fermented liquid from water kefir, kombucha, etc
• Optional: 
• herbs, sea salt

Ghee

Ghee, aka clarified butter, is a non-vegan type of butter. It is unlike regular butter because the water and milk and casein / protein solids are removed through a controlled heating process that resembles boiling. Ghee may derive from butter of cows, goats or buffaloes. However, A2 cow milk is considered the best. A2 is best for those with A1 beta-casein intolerance.

Benefits of ghee

• Ghee is suitable for lactose intolerant diets (because the milk fats are removed).
• Ghee has a high smoke point of roughly 232-251 C (or 450-485 F). This is much higher than that of butter at roughly 120-175 C (or 250-350 F). An advantage of this higher smoke point is that the ghee does not burn as quickly as does butter when cooking something like eggs for instance. It can even be used for deep frying.
• Ghee has a long shelf life and does not need refrigeration.
• Ghee is good for digestive health. It has the highest known amount of butyric acid which improves nutrient absorption. This is especially good to resolve colon issues. Colon problems often compromise one's ability to process and absorb butyrate normally (from fiber). It also helps to improve bile production to improve your digestion of fats and in turn improve nutrient absorption from fats. Who knew?! Ghee is even prebiotic because short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which butyric acid is, are prebiotic by nature.
• Ghee improves insulin resistance thereby normalizing blood sugar levels. It is fascinating to note that ghee actually reduces the glycemic index of meals.
• Ghee is also a source of 
• vitamin K2 and D, both of which promote good bone health.
• omega 3 fatty acids, which can reduce bad cholesterol.
• vitamin A. It provides lutein which promotes good eye health, and even blocks macular degeneration.
• vitamin E
• Ghee boosts energy. This is because its butyric acid is a short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) which the body readily uses as a source of energy immediately, ie rather than gets stored (the way long-chain fats do). In other words, it is not fattening. In fact, ghee promotes fat loss in that it moves fat from stubborn parts of your body.
• It is even anti-carcinogenic.
• Other reported benefits include heart health, boosts brain function.

• Its topical use is lips and skin loving. Specifically, it is hydrating, softening and reparative.

Uses

A rule of thumb is that you can use 2 to 4 tsps of ghee daily, regardless of gender, body type, age or fitness level. While ghee is a fat burner, excessive amounts can be fattening.

• Cooking butter substitute. (NB. The only exception is baking when you want lightness, fluffiness or flakiness. This is because the steam produced by the butter's evaporating water is responsible for those effects.)
• Body butter
• Lip balm
• Eye cream to reduce dark circles, thanks to its vitamin E content.
• Frying (without smoking), sautéeing, etc
• Drizzle over rice, breads, toast, curries, stews.

Never use ghee as follows.

• Do NOT combine ghee with curds or (equal parts of) honey. The combinations are considered unhealthy.

You will need

• unsalted butter. Butter quality matters. For instance, Irish butter renders far more delicious ghee than Crisco. While you can use salted butter, unsalted is preferable because the salt will be more intense in the ghee and that might not go well with everything you want to cook.
• heat
• heat resistant strainer
• cheesecloth (about 4 layers) inside of a heat resistant strainer over a heat resistant container

Steps

• On a stove top, heat butter in large pot. Stir gently.
• You should see the first milestones: 'giant' bubbles. These bubbles are caused by the water that is forcing its way up through the fats as it boils in the lower level.
• Watch for another milestone: a foam of roughly 1/4 inch that sits on top of the fat, usually for a few minutes (roughly 3 to 4 minutes). The foam looks like runny ice cream. Each batch is slightly different. On that basis and depending on the butter composition, the foam may or may not cover the entire yellow surface of your fats. It is a combination of proteins, sugar and air. Stop stirring at this point.
• Turn up the heat slightly to encourage more of the larger bubbles. The larger bubbles should become more vigorous to the extent that they even push the foam outwards to the edge. The water is now escaping rapidly and you will no longer see the fine foam being produced.
• Eventually, you should see another milestone: the creamy appearance of the foam is dissipating as it begins to sink (where they will ideally stick to the bottom of the pot). Also, bubbles consist more of oil, which is unlike before when the bubbles were primarily water. Drag the strainer across the surface to skim off the foam. 
• Milestone: the color should become increasingly yellow as the white milkiness separates. Your objective at this point is to see the bottom of the pot without the opacity of white milk solids.
• Remove the pot from the heat source entirely when you have reached your final milestone: the milk solids have settled and caramelized. The caramelization is highly desired because it imparts a slight nutty flavor (and a deeper golden color).
• While still hot, you may pour ghee through the cheesecloth. The cheesecloth will trap remaining milk solids that are still suspended in the butter.
• To prevent rancidity, store in dark, airtight and cool conditions.

CONTENT RELATED TO GHEE

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Bone Health

Bones are alive, with the capacity to grow, regenerate and die. After reaching 30, your body is likely to produce bone mass slower than it depletes it. This leads to osteoporosis. The risk of osteoporosis is greater around the stages of menopause. This is noteworthy because low bone density leads to fractures and associated complications that are sometimes even life threatening. However, this post discusses how you can naturally promote bone density through lifestyle.

In short, people most likely to suffer osteoporosis include women, thin framed people, people with family history of osteoporosis, contributing lifestyle mentioned discussed below, low calcium diet, low vitamin D intake.

 

Nutrients that promote good bone health

• Vitamin K2 (Mk7 preferably or Mk4 if not) w vitamin D. Vitamin K essentially instructs your body to move calcium from soft tissue (which causes problems like hardened arteries) to the bones.
• Common sources of vitamin K
• Basil (fresh and dried) 
  
• Sauerkraut, especially if made with white cabbage (provides vitamin K2)
• Cauliflower provides vitamin K (which I prepare as a fermented vegan ceviche) 
• Ghee (K2) (though it is NOT vegan)
• Collagen
• Common sources of collagen
• garlic (boosts collagen thanks to its sulfur content that slows down the breakdown of collagen)
• egg whites
• Vitamin D (preferably D3, which is usually animal-sourced). This vitamin promotes calcium absorption.
• Calcium, non-inflammatory types (Leafy greens, chia seeds, sesame seeds, beans, lentils, sardines)
• Magnesium to balance Calcium 
• Vitamin C
• Red onions

Things to limit or avoid

• high calcium intake without a balance of the other nutrients (mentioned above). Without the other balancing nutrients, you run the risk of hardening your arteries with an excessive amount of calcium. Needless to say, your bones will not even be able to absorb much of that calcium without the other complementary nutrients. 
• Alcohol  (which lowers bone density)
• smoking  (which lowers bone density)
• Salt aka Sodium Chloride / NaCl (which acidifies in blood)
• inactivity

Exercises to promote good bone health

The best form of exercise to prevent osteoporosis includes those that are weight-bearing (like some forms of aerobics). These exercises will force your bones to strengthen in order to compensate for the extra load from weight-bearing exercise. Here are examples of exercises to improve and maintain bone health.

Caroline Jordan's YouTube 27-minute video workout routine called 'OSTEOPOROSIS EXERCISES | A WORKOUT ROUTINE FOR STRONGER BONES'

Here are some other exercises.

• impact exercises, preferably those that involve jumping. If you have knee or other issues that make these exercises problematic, do low impact versions.
• jumping jacks. 30 daily repetitions should suffice 
• For upper body
• boxing that hits something to create impact. See more examples.
• pushups
• squatting
• flamingo exercise

YouTube video 'Pilates on the wall: Flamingo' exercise

CONTENT RELATED TO BONE HEALTH

• Agar agar. agar agar is even used as a more effective and vegan substitute for gelatin for treating bone, cartilage and joint damage. In fact, its use can prevent the need for operations like hip and knee replacement. 
• Sauerkraut may help to support good bone health. See how to make sauerkraut.