Which main ingredient is most reminiscent of fish for Ceviche?
Recipes out there with hearts of palm, tofu, cauli and young coconut. Or some other?
I hated fish when young, and certainly won't try it now as a vegan but would like to know how much chew, snap etc is appropriate to ceviche.
Speaking as someone who adores real ceviche, I would say that avocado is actually the best texture substitute for whitefish ceviche. Most fish cured in citrus acids is actually quite soft and buttery in texture. Ripe mango or ripe plantain would also be a good texture match, but has a strong flavor.
Shellfish, however, toughen up in the curing, so I'd use hearts of palm for those. Young coconut would also be good texturally, but also has a very strong flavor that would throw people off. Underripe jackfruit, the standby for vegan everything, might work well also.
So ... if you're preparing a "vegan ceviche", I'd recommend a mix of avocado and hearts of palm, in lime juice and spices. Which is a good salad even if you weren't trying to imitate anything.
Tofu is just wrong for all varieties of ceviche.
Seems my café customers enjoy oyster mushroom most, followed by hearts of palm. Avocado tomato and onion are the 'fixings' that garnish. English walnut and konnyaku (konjak) were a fail. But if someone has hints how to make them work, love to hear it. Also, there is Lupini Bean that apparently has a fishy flavor. Trying to track that down next.