Ceviche

Me encantan estas recetas, es la primera vez que hice el Ceviche y me encanto la receta es bien simple y quisiera saber que otro pezcado usaria…

I use walleye filets caught here in WI for most of my recipes that require fish. It won’t hold up as well as a firm ocean fish will, so I add it at the very tail end of preparation in this or even in things like the “Canadian Gumbo” recipe that I get asked for often. Ceviche is one of my favorite things on earth. I’ve added fresh chopped calamari rings with the fish. I’ve prepared it probably a dozen different ways, with some fine tuning, and found that adding minimal amounts of orange juice, lemon juice, and even grapefruit juice to the lime juice helps tune the flavors up. I use more cilantro than most recipes call for, also adding some at the end before serving in addition to prep. I use poblano peppers from the Mexican grocery store in town, in lieu of jalapenos. They key thing for me and my experience is to have your ingredients in the smallest dices (not minced) as you can. Pieces of anything too big in ceviche I think become a drawback to it overall. Trying both fish and shrimp versions, I’ve also tried using crab and also imitation crab (I know…) Interestingly enough, the surimi holds up much better than real crab for this purpose…..thank all of the modified food starches for that. I also add my avocado at the end…it stays more firm and doesn’t turn into guac mush that way. My wife will take what’s left and mix with fresh guac on occasion also. It doesn’t take long for too many ingredients to join the party, so I stick to as few as possible and will make two or three types rather than tossing 20 components together. Bottled lime juice? Only if you’re an astronaut.

Hello Elise,
I found your blog while looking for a meatloaf recipe, to offer my family during a party next week, I liked your recipe so much that I began to read other recipes, that is how I found your ceviche recipe.

Ceviche, is not a recipe, is a concept that is present all around the shores of the pacific ocean, the basic idea consists in “cooking” fresh fish using some form of natural acid (basically lemon/lime/orange or other fruits juice), it has been part of the peruvian menu even before Peru existed. Depending on where you eat your ceviche you will find more or less ingredients and depending on how fresh your fish is and how firm its meat it will take you 30 seconds or 3 hours to prepare it.

I, as a peruvian, am used to my country’s style, only 5 ingredients: fish, salt, lime juice, purple onion and chili. After that you can add slices of sweet potato, corn, lettuce and a few others as garnish.

Some tips: ALWAYS use the freshest fish you can afford, avoid greasy fishes, and preferably from cold waters as they tend to have firmer meat. Pay close attention to fish meat temperature, always keep it on ice, (but never frozen!) until used. When squeezing your limes use only the first drops as after that the drops will include the sour flavor from the skin. Cut the onion on very thin vertical slices.

We in Peru use not more than 1-2 minutes to “cook” the fish

If you like avocado, rice, tortillas or anything else, just go ahead, when it comes to food preferences no one owns the truth.

Hi to everybody from Dalkey, Ireland. Ceviche is one of my favourites. From my Chilean wife I learned to blanch the onion (red or white) first. After chopping it, place it in a sieve and pour a jug of boiling water over it followed, immediately, by a jug of cold water. This removes the unpleasant (for me, at least) taste of raw onion. Once blanched, add to the dish. In ireland I use lemon sole cut into pieces and wild scallops for ceviche. But, now, having read the blog and comments, i will experiment with different fish.

I use powdered 100% lime uice, it’s handy when needed. If you do a search for it make sure it is the 100% pure, no other indredients added, lime juice which I buy by the pound. Delicious.

Not that Google Translate didn’t get a majority of it, but here is a little clearer translation:
“Here in Peru we opt for the traditional method. I admit that with avocado, like those in Mexico say, it would have a different flavor to me. Here [in Peru] they use sweet potato, corn, lettuce..and a little chile with lime. Excellent! It is the easiest and most traditional way to make friends. Try it. Sometimes more ingredients do not always mean more delicious. :)”

And for the record, I prefer it with crab meat and served with tostadas!

Aquí en Perú optamos por el método tradicional, admito que con palta o aguacate como le dicen en México, para mi tendría un sabor diferente, Aquí se usa el camote, el choclo, lechuga… y un poco de ají limo. Excelente!, Es la forma más facil y tradicional de hacerlo amigos. Inténtenlo. A veces muchos ingredientes, no siempre significa más delicioso. :)

Thank you for your comment Marcia. For those who don’t read Spanish, here is the Google translation: “Here in Peru we opted for the traditional method, I admit that with avocado, for me would have a different flavor.Here you use the sweet potato, corn, lettuce … and a little chili. Excellent!, Is the easiest way to do it and traditional friends. Try it. Sometimes many ingredients, does not always mean
delicious. :) ” ~Elise

i just returned from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where I attended a cooking class on cerviche.all the ingredients were finely chopped with the fish marinating in lime juice for 30 minutes while we cut up white onion, plum tomatoes , cucumber (seeded) jalapeno pepper (seeded) cilantro (fresh) and garlic cloves. They used a whitefish. Not one I was familar with. After the fish was done, they then added all the chopped ingredients and added avacado on top. it was delicious. and my first time having this appetizer.

I used fresh Pacific rock cod in mine and for some reason the fish just did not cook, even in 4 hours. I had to cut into way smaller than 1/2 in pieces. I ate a few pieces raw in the middle before giving up and chopping the fish up and putting back in the fridge, hopefully the fish was fresh enough I won’t die…

I made this using the original recipe… but after letting everything set as described I took out the seafood and blanched it in olive oil because my wife refuses to eat raw stuff. It actually came out great! I used fresh shrimp, (devained and cleaned) scallops and tilapia. After mixing the cooked seafood back into the pot of seasonings, peppers and lime juice I let it sit for another two hours to get cold again and served with wedges of avocado. It was wonderful… Oh, I also added chopped poblano peppers to give it a nice smooth flavor and served with hot sauce for those who wanted it hotter. This might be a good option for anyone worried about raw seafood. (of course any bacteria is still in the lime juice mixture…but I didn’t explain that to my wife and we both survived!)