The storySometimes you gotta ask.
When I wanted to work at The French Laundry, I showed up and asked. Same move, years later, at a ceviche counter in Lima.
I loved La Mar, so I asked the chef to show me how they make it. Chef Anthony said, "How about right now." The place was slammed.
We cut through the kitchen, me in the wrong shoes. We passed a guy breaking down fish, maybe 200 pounds of it on ice. He was flying. If you want to get good, watch people like him.
He cut the fish against the grain. A snapper. Salt, a whisper of sugar. Then the pepper.
He sliced pickled aji limo and pressed the oil into the fish. That's the essence. Then a little clear fish stock. It cures the fish from the inside.
Rest three minutes. Add cilantro, diced chile, red onion. Taste, taste, taste. Then spoon off the leche de tigre at the bottom. Tiger's milk. The best bite of the whole thing.
Muchas gracias, Chef Anthony.