Dishin': Ceviche at El Chalan
Like so many others, we travel each week with Anthony Bourdain to the far reaches of the world—from the comfort of our couch. But after a recent No Reservations episode in Peru tantalized us, we had to get up and get out to sample some ceviche.
Our trip took us to White Center, the historically impoverished neighborhood that some in Seattle still consider a foreign destination. Here we found El Chalan. This Peruvian restaurant is in a building that we're told once housed a Wendy's and a branch of the recently reviewed Ezell's Famous Chicken. The fast-food connection may explain the prevalence of "Secret Sauce" in so many of El Chalan's dishes.
At first overwhelmed by the colorful menu with photographs and descriptions of never-before-tried dishes, we soon honed in on the Ceviche Mixto. Our medium-portion plate ($18) arrived with filleted fish (sole), shrimps, prawns, octopus, squid and mussels. The seafood is "cooked" by the acidity of the sauce, which contains lemon, cilantro, garlic, and aji (a concoction of jalapeno, fresh cheese, and fast food-like "secret spices"). The dish is rounded out with potatoes, yams, and two preparations of big-eared Peruvian corn—then topped with sliced red onions.
The result is refreshing: The seafood retains a wonderful texture with a sauce that can best be described as "bright." Lots of flavor that plays nicely, especially with the sole, without dominating; we thought we detected a lime taste, but that could be from all the ingredients interacting with each other.
Taking a cue from Bourdain, next time we might just have to try the Leche de Tigre, which is the saucy runoff from the ceviche, blended. El Chalan promotes it as an aphrodisiac. Then again, so is the still-beating heart of a cobra with a snake blood chaser, but we're not sure we're quite ready to follow Bourdain that far. Unless someone knows a source in Seattle?
