Ceviche. Seh/bee/tchay.

If you haven’t already tried ceviche, drop everything you’re doing and make this recipe NOW. So fresh and delicious, ceviche should be a regular part of everyone’s  summer diet. Ceviche is basically salsa with seafood. Although there is no cooking with heat involved, the seafood is “cooked” thanks to the strong acid in lime and lemon juice. It’s best enjoyed poolside with tortilla chips and margaritas.

This is another “fancy” appetizer that is so easy to make, yet most people only order it when they go out for Mexican. And it’s so overpriced for such a tiny portion. When you make your own, you control the ratio of seafood to other ingredients so you can make it as fish heavy as you like.

This recipe uses three of Florida’s best seafoods: grouper, snapper, and shrimp. In your own ceviche, feel free to experiment with all types of seafood. Some common proteins include: shrimp, octopus, corvina, snapper, squid, scallops, and tilapia. In my experience, if you use shrimp that has been previously frozen you might have some difficulty getting it to cook in the acid. In this case, I’d recommend just pouring boiling hot water over the shrimp to cook it before chopping it up and adding to the rest of the ingredients. I’ve never had a problem getting fresh shrimp from the fish market to cook in the acid.

Ingredients:

Snapper

Grouper

Shrimp

Limes

Red onion

Cilantro

Tomatoes

Avocado

Mango

Yellow bell pepper

Method:

Chop your fresh, raw seafood into small pieces about the size of a hazelnut. For fish, it’s best to slice by running a sharp knife from the base to tip dragging the knife towards you. You don’t want to be sawing at the fish.

Put in bowl and squeeze lime juice to cover everything. You could also add some lemon juice or even a bit of orange juice. Set aside for about 10-15 minutes allowing the acid to cook the seafood. I like to stir it every once in a while to make sure it’s all immersed in the juice. You’ll know it’s done when the seafood is no longer translucent.

Chop the rest of your ingredients, saving the avocado for the end so it stays nice and green. I like to dice the tomatoes and mango about pea sized and the bell pepper and onion much smaller. Roughly chop the cilantro. Use whatever ratio you prefer. I love seafood so I like that to be at least 60% of my ceviche. Mix in a large bowl with more freshly squeezed lime juice. Season with good quality salt and pepper.

When the seafood is opaque and cooked through, add the seafood into the large bowl and mix to combine. I don’t add the juice that it was cooking in.

Taste and make any adjustments necessary. Serve with tortilla chips.