Recipe from Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico cookbook. Find several more recipes from the book here.

4 ounces raw red snapper, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
3/4 cup fresh lime juice, divided 1/2 cup thinly sliced octopus (cooked as below)
4 medium shrimp (cooked as below)
1/2 cup crabmeat, cleaned and picked through any cartilage or shell pieces 
4 oysters, shucked 
1 tomato, seeded and finely chopped 
2 tablespoons pitted green olives, sliced 
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 
2 tablespoons Valentina® sauce, store-bought 
1/2 cup salsa de jitomate y chile verde (recipe below)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced 
1 1/4 cups tomato juice, chilled 
1 recipe totopos, optional to accompany

Combine snapper, onion and 1/2 cup lime juice in glass or ceramic bowl. Make sure snapper floats freely in lime juice to ensure thorough and even marinating. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Strain and discard lime juice. Transfer snapper to glass bowl. Add octopus, shrimp, crabmeat and oysters and remaining lime juice, toss to combine. Add tomato, olives and cilantro, mix. Add Valentina® sauce and salsa de jitomate y chile verde, mix. Add salt and black pepper and lightly toss. Fold in avocado right before serving. Divide chilled tomato juice evenly among four cocktail glasses. Divide seafood mixture evenly into the glasses. Accompany with totopos or saltines.

To cook shrimp

1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 small white onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons kosher salt
20 cocktail-sized shrimp

Set up an ice bath by filling a bowl with ice and water. Place stockpot over high heat and add garlic, onion, celery, peppercorns, salt, and 8 cups water. Bring to a rolling boil. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Immediately transfer cooked shrimp to ice bath to stop cooking process. Allow shrimp to cool completely before peeling and deveining them. Refrigerate covered with plastic wrap until ready to assemble.

To cook octopus

1/4 cup kosher salt
5 dried bay leaves
1/2 large white onion, coarsely chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 large carrot, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 octopus (3 pounds)

Place stockpot over high heat and add salt, bay leaves, onion, garlic, carrot and celery to stockpot with about 1 1/2 gallons water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Add octopus, lower heat and leave gently bubbling until tender, about 1 hour. Remove octopus from water and transfer to a sheet pan. Allow it to cool at room temperature, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove head from octopus and discard. Thinly slice tentacles into 1/4-inch thick medallions. Refrigerate octopus covered with plastic wrap until ready to assemble. Salsa de jitomate y chile verde for seafood cocktail

Tomato and Serrano Pepper Salsa

This salsa is great for enchiladas or to give an extra kick to seafood cocktails or soups. If making ahead, cool salsa completely after making, transfer to a glass or plastic airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days.

8 medium tomatoes, roasted, peeled
2 whole serrano peppers, stemmed
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup corn oil
2 teaspoon kosher salt

Put tomatoes, peppers, garlic and onion in blender and purée to a smooth consistency. Place saucepan over medium heat, add corn oil to pan and preheat 2 minutes. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add tomato-pepper purée. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remove from heat and cool completely before use or store as directed above.