# Ceviche



## Alix (Mar 8, 2006)

I was reading a book and it kept referring to ceviche. What I gleaned from the book is that it is raw fish, chopped up and mixed with cilantro and lime juice. Is that correct? The book didn't specify a particular fish, in fact it mentioned that just abuot anything would work with this. It also said the lime juice "cooks" the fish. I'm a wee bit skeptical of THAT claim. Anyone know much about this? I'd appreciate a more knowledgeable answer.


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## GB (Mar 8, 2006)

Ceviche is great stuff alix and everything you said is pretty much true. Ceviche uses acid, usually lime or lemon juice, to chemically cook the fish. it is not cooked with heat, but the acid does change the structure and texture of the fish as if it were cooked with heat. It is delicious stuff. Very refreshing. I can't get enough of it.


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## GB (Mar 8, 2006)

Here is a thread with some ceviche recipes.


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## buckytom (Mar 8, 2006)

i loooooove ceviche!!!

i've had some standard stuff, usually a firm white fish, cilantro, garlic, celery, onions, chiles, in an acid of vinegar and lemon/lime.

i also like ceviche preidente, which includes shrimp, squid, and firm white fish.


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## cristal (Mar 8, 2006)

*I love ceviche too. One of my Aunties makes it kinda like a pico di gallo with tomatoes and stuff. I've seen it made with avocado, grapefruit, mango...all kinds of stuff.*


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## jennyema (Mar 8, 2006)

It is indeed delicious stuff! And very popular these days.

Shrimp ceviche is usually/often made with cooked shrimp (but just barely cooked), so maybe that's a type to start with.


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## Yakuta (Mar 8, 2006)

I had one that was made with red snapper and it was delish.  I asked the server at the restaurant how they make it and he said it was marinated in lime juice for several hours.  The acid changes the texture of the fish and it's almost cooked.  I did not taste any rawness.

The one I had was made with finely diced red snapper marinated in lime juice (lots of it) and then tossed in with finely diced tomatoes, red onion, avacados, cilantro, jalapeno and garlic.  It was served in a martini glass - I can't get the taste out of my mouth.  I think I need to go to San Angel in Oralando at Epcot again to enjoy this treat.


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## fireweaver (Mar 8, 2006)

there's this hole-in-the-wall dive mexican restaurant (which, of course, is the kind that serves the best mexican food) here in b'more called los amigos that has A+++ ceviche.  you can either get the regular, which is just white fish, or ceviche mixto, which is fish, shrimp, squid, and a big ol clam.  either one comes with long thin slivers of onion and chopped bits of cilantro floating in the lime juice on the plate.  the definately use some sort of chile, tho, because some nights it's hot enough to peel the paint off the wall.  fantastic stuff anyway!


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## Haggis (Mar 8, 2006)

Mmm ceviche with plain white rice and salted boiled sweet potatoes. Delicious.


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## biev (Mar 9, 2006)

Ooh I'm going to try this next time I go fishing ^.^ I mainly catch snapper, I've been looking for different ways to cook it. When you have extra fresh fish, you should do something special


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## Alix (Mar 9, 2006)

Wow. Thanks guys. Being a sushi fan the rawness factor doesn't really bug me. Can I just toss stuff in til it looks good or are there certain proportions I should observe? GB, will check out your link later, must dash today.


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## GB (Mar 9, 2006)

The important ingredient is the acid. As long as you have enough of that to "cook" the fish then the rest of the ingredients you can do to taste.


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## Constance (Mar 9, 2006)

I have a friend who lives on the northeast coast and has access to all kinds of fresh seafood. He makes ceviche with swordfish, scallops, shrimp, and whatever else looks fresh that day.


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## buckytom (Mar 9, 2006)

ya know, i've been thinking of mia members a lot lately. whatever happened to lugaru?


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## GB (Mar 9, 2006)

OK here is my question for all of those who have made it since I have never made it myself. With sushi you need to make sure your fish is sushi grade (highest quality). Does your fish for ceviche need to be of the same quality or will the acid give you a little leeway? I would certainly not use questionable fish (ever), but does it have to be sushi grade?


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## GB (Mar 9, 2006)

buckytom said:
			
		

> whatever happened to lugaru?


You read my mind Bucky. I was wondering about him just yesterday.


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## Andy M. (Mar 9, 2006)

I'd want the fish to be sushi grade.  While the acid in a ceviche gives the fish the appearance of being cooked, no heat has been applied to kill any bacteria present.  Does the acid do all that heat would have done???


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## Alix (Mar 9, 2006)

OK. This is all very valuable info. How do ensure I am buying sushi grade fish? And here is another question. We have an Asian market that has tank after tank full of fish. If I get them to kill me one of those babies would that be OK? LOL. That didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it to, but I think you get what I mean.


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## ironchef (Mar 9, 2006)

For ceviche, sushi grade does not always apply since you're not always using fish that goes in sushi. For ceviche, I prefer a mild white fish like halibut, sea bass, snapper, etc. You're not really going to go to a store and see something labeled as "sushi grade" halibut for example. Just buy the freshest possible fish. Ask the fishmonger for his input.


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## sattie (Mar 9, 2006)

Sadly to say, I have not tried this dish yet... and considering how much I love sushi... (even tho different) you think I would have tried it by now.  I see it on the menu and think about it, but always end up deciding against it.  I must try!!!!  Someone, please f/u with me in 2 weeks to make sure I have tried it!!!  Otherwise I will keep "meaning to" but never follow through.  Arrrgghh!


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## Poppinfresh (Mar 10, 2006)

We had a key lime-red pepper shellfish ceviche as a side for dinner tonight.  It was great stuff.  I'll put the recipe for it below.

(Recipe from Bobby Flay, btw)

Ceviche:

1/2 pound medium shrimp
1 pound squid (I used calimari)
1/2 pound Calico Bay scallops
2 cups fresh key lime juice
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup bottled clam juice
1/4 cup smoked red pepper sauce (recipe below)
a yellow pepper; roasted, peeled seeded and diced
a poblano pepper, roasted peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
an orange, sgemented
a lemon, segmented
a key lime, segmented
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Red Pepper Sauce:

1 red pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons chopped red onion
1 tablespoon chipotle puree
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon of honey
salt/pepper

*Combine peppers, onion, chipolte, lime juice and oil in food processor.  Blend until it's smooth.  Add in the honey salt and pepper and blend another 10 seconds.

Ceviche:

*Bring saucepan of salted water to boil.  Fill a bowl with ice cubes and cover in cold water.  Add shrimp and squid (calimari) to the boiling water and blanch for 30 seconds.  Lift out of the water and throw into the ice water to shock.  When it's cooled, drain them on paper towels

Place blanched shrimp and squid and the scallops in a bowl and add the lime and lemon juice...mix well and refrigerate for 2 hours, covered

After two hours, remove fish from the fridge and pour off all the juice.  Whisk together the clam juice and red pepper sauce until combined and add to the fish.  Add peppers, onion, citrus sections and cilantro and mix to combine.  Add salt and pepper for taste

We fried some tortillas and served the whole thing in bowls with a couple tortillas in there for scooping.


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## biev (Mar 13, 2006)

I mentioned this to my husband and asked if he would be willing to try this next time we go fishing, thinking this will be entirely new to him, and he gives me this "where have you been the last three years?" look. Apparently ceviche conch is one of the specialties of our little island.


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## Swann (Mar 13, 2006)

Yakuta said:
			
		

> I had one that was made with red snapper and it was delish.  I asked the server at the restaurant how they make it and he said it was marinated in lime juice for several hours.  The acid changes the texture of the fish and it's almost cooked.  I did not taste any rawness.
> 
> The one I had was made with finely diced red snapper marinated in lime juice (lots of it) and then tossed in with finely diced tomatoes, red onion, avacados, cilantro, jalapeno and garlic.  It was served in a martini glass - I can't get the taste out of my mouth.  I think I need to go to San Angel in Oralando at Epcot again to enjoy this treat.



That is about the same ingredients that I use in ceviche. I use ocean fish and shell fish as fresh water fish needs to be cooked. A Peruvian friend always adds sweet potatoes to his ceviche. I like l;ots of scallops in it.


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## GB (Mar 13, 2006)

Swann said:
			
		

> A Peruvian friend always adds sweet potatoes to his ceviche.


Swann that sounds very interesting. Does he cook the sweet potatoes first or do they go in raw as well?


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## Swann (Mar 13, 2006)

GB said:
			
		

> Swann that sounds very interesting. Does he cook the sweet potatoes first or do they go in raw as well?



The sweet potatoes are firm cooked and cut into chunks of about 1" size. Gives a sweetness to the ceviche. Care must be taken as the potato falls apart.


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## GB (Mar 13, 2006)

Thanks Swann. that sounds really good. In addition to the sweetness I bet the color it adds looks great too.


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## ironchef (Mar 13, 2006)

Swann said:
			
		

> That is about the same ingredients that I use in ceviche. I use ocean fish and shell fish as fresh water fish needs to be cooked. A Peruvian friend always adds sweet potatoes to his ceviche. I like l;ots of scallops in it.


 
He adds the purple sweet potatoes right? Not the orange ones.


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## GB (Mar 13, 2006)

Well he is Peruvian


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## ironchef (Mar 13, 2006)

GB said:
			
		

> Well he is Peruvian


 
Just making sure...judging by a lot of our guests in the restaurant, a lot of them never seen a purple potato before. They ask the waitstaff how we got the potato to be purple.


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## GB (Mar 13, 2006)

As long as you do not tell them it is food coloring


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## Swann (Mar 13, 2006)

One cannot always find the correct one to buy. He did use the orange as that is what was available. I wish we could buy more varieties of potatoes. We grew some different ones for a couple years but did not produce enough to justify the garden use. We do better with tomatoes.


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## ironchef (Mar 13, 2006)

GB said:
			
		

> As long as you do not tell them it is food coloring


 
One night, a guest was arguing with one of the waiters because he KNEW that there was NO such thing as a purple potato. The waiter had to bring out a raw one just to show him...


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## GB (Mar 13, 2006)

I guess the customer is not always right


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## bknox (Mar 22, 2006)

I was going to post this recipe when I noticed this post. We make ceviche in about 20 different ways but I recently acquired a recipe that is easy and excellent. I made it because it had green olives in it and I thought that it was interesting. It was GREAT. I used shrimp but my brother used fish and scallops, he loved it as well.

Ceviche:
1 pound medium shrimp, scallops or fish or all three (about a pound overall)
2 cups of fresh lime juice
1 medium onion chopped 
7 plum tomatoes diced
2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced small
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup nice green olives - pimento removed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of Salt
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 Avocado peeled, pitted and diced - For this recipe I used an Avocado that was still fairly firm.

Peel the shrimp and cut them in half so they are little chuncks. Place them in a bown and cover them in the lime juice. Refridgerate for at least 4 hours. I stir them once or twice during the time they are in the lime juice. The acid in the lime juice carmelized the proteins in the seafood which is the same effect as cooking it with heat. I think that is really cool.

After 4 hours, drain the shrimp and tranfere to a bigger bowl. Toss with everything else and put it back in the fridge until chilled through.

I made this the night before and let it mix together overnight. Next time I am going to eat it in a wrap with strips of fried tortilla.

Enjoy


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