How to Make a Ceviche: Ceviche Recipes

Until my friends and in-laws started traveling down to Latin American, I'd never even hear of a Ceviche. Well, even the folks who've been down there disagree with the spelling: Ceviche; Seviche; Serviche; Cebiche; cevice; the list of options is endless! But my friends and family with more money than me are enjoying their winter in the sand, sun, and surf, while I"m stranded up north. It's their turn to gloat and to be honest, I'm enjoying learning a great deal about their travels.

One thing I've always enjoyed about vacation is trying a new type of food, or just preparing the same old thing in a different way. To be honest, that is what the ceviche is...same old stuff, different day!

I have to admit that the original recipe, from the Viceroyalty of Peru back a half of a millenium ago is very, very nice! Basically, you are taking a lime or lemon marinade and placing some spice and raw, white fish filets therein. The older recipes tend toward the countertop and 2-3 hours. Modern cooks leave the fish pieces in the liquid for 15 minutes (or less!) and serve. There's a myriad of options. Briefly cook some shrimp and add tomatoes and clam juice, and you might have another world-class ceviche. WELL, let's just get down to the recipe files!

Shrimp ceviche is an appetizing alternative to a shrimp cocktail, especially if you try it in a Martini Glass for presentation! The key to the recipe is a good marinade and fresh ingredients. Some recipes require a brief cooking time for the shrimp, and in others you can use the marinade for that purpose. My first recipe involves a quick boil of raw fish.

1/2-3/4 pounds of medium, peeled and deveined
1 - 1.5 Tbsps salt
1/2 cup lime and 1/2 cup lemon juices (you'll need about 4 limes and 2 lemons, depending on quality & ripeness)
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chile, minced, seeded, and remove the membranes
1/2-3/4 cup chopped parsley or cilantro
1 medium to large cucumber, peeled. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces
1 avocado in half inch chunks

First, take 3 (three) quarts of water, add salt and bring to boil. Briefly (1-2 min) cook the shrimp, just until it goes pink and curls. It's essential NOT to overcook shrimp when you're preparing any sort of cocktail or ceviche. You can use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp, and have a bowl of ice ready to immediately stop the cooking process. Dry shrimp is rubbery and tasteless. The key to your shrimp ceviche is right at this point, so take the time to do it right, practicing if necessary! If you've never deveined a raw shrimp, the process is easy, take a look at the guide located at http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Select-and-Prepare-Shrimp&id=52233

Next, place your drained and chilled shrimp into a nice ceramic bowl with the citrus juices and refrigerate for a half hour, tossing gently to make sure all the shrimp receive their share of the marinade. Stir in your onion and chile, refrigerating for another 20-30 minutes.

Finally, you simply add your cucumber, parsley (or cilantro), and avacado, stir and present for your guests. This recipe will be good for about 3-4 people, but you can easy add more shrimp (and other ingredients) for additional guests. Adjust the proportions to your taste preferences. Personally, I'm not a big fan of cilantro, but it does taste good in this recipe. What you can do is mix it with parsley, reducing the amount of cilantro, until you hit the taste you and your guests enjoy most.

My second recipe is a bit more traditional, and your juices actually "cook" the shrimp during the marinade process! Basically, you'll need a glass baking dish for the marinade. You'll notice many of the same ingredients used above.

1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup cilantro/parsley (fresh)
1 cucumber peeled and sliced (you can remove the seeds if you prefer)
4 large tomatoes, diced and seeded (in the winter, try the romas, but look for a good, firm, red-ripe tomato.)
1 red onion, diced (I've also seen the red onion thinly sliced, it looks prettier)
3-4 tablespoons tomato puree

Take 3 pounds of cleaned, raw shrimp (check out that link for shrimp preparation if you need to!) and add the juice of the limes and lemons. It's important to use a juicer on your limes, and take care not to tear the membranes. It lends a bitter taste to your marinade. Please use fresh lemons and limes, the bottled stuff isn't good for this particular dish. Mix the shrimp and juices gently and refrigerate for 3 hours. Add the rest of your ingredients, mix gently, and refrigerate for an additional hour. It's ready to serve, and is great with tortilla chips, pita bread, or you can also lay it on top a grilled fish. Garnish with lemon (& lime!) slices. Enjoy!

The second recipe has the minor detraction of requiring the 4 hours of refrigeration, but both renditions of shrimp ceviche are very easy to prepare. This process is very forgiving, so long as you follow the directions and prepare your shrimp properly. Once again, I urge you to alter the ingredient amounts to suit your own taste, but be careful to follow the refrigeration guidelines for the second recipe. Happy Eating!