Ceviche – Fish and Shellfish – Basic and Tropical Recipes

Every country has it own special recipes for Ceviche and as for it originality, many boast the invention of the dish, from the Pacific coastal of the Polynesian, to the Mediterranean to the Central and South Americans. Contrary to some belief, Ceviche is not really a Costa Rica dish but its popularity has grown with the tourist trade.

The first time I had [great] Ceviche was in a little town in Baja California Sur, Todas Santos back in the early 1970s. The hacienda we lived in was surrounded by sweet lime, avocado, and mango trees. The maid at the house used sweet limes (only found in the area) to cook the Dorado (Mahi Mahi, or dolphin fish) we had caught that day. She also added sliced up onions and tomatoes to the cooking. She then served it with these mega size home made corn tortilla chips and a huge bowl of guacamole.  Her secret ingredient was a few splashes of 7-up. It was to die for.

Unfortunately, Ceviche has been bastardized in the US by those guru Food Channel chefs who add their fancy garnishes and ingredients that is enough to make one turn an evil eye. Who in the hell adds Saffron or baby carrots and corn to Ceviche? Give me a break!

The biggest problem is the take off of the old burger commercial, “Where’s The Beef (Fish)?”.  We have all seen it when you dip your tortilla chip in a bowl of cooked vegetables, and then pull out our magnify glass looking for the fish.

Ceviche should be no less than 3/4 fish/ shellfish, 1/4 filler (onions, tomatoes, peppers etc)

Tips on Making Good Ceviche
1) Like sushi, make sure your fish is fresh. If your fish is not fresh, it will become mushy and  fishy taste. Try and keep it cold; an hour in room temperature and the fish will start to decay, consequently becoming, fishy.

2) Cut out the Red in the fish – The red is the blood line of the fish and even if some people like this taste (fishy), I’m not one of them. Restaurants are notorious for leaving the red in, because they are too lazy to cut it out, and/or leave it in to add more fish (cheap). When you see gray areas in the cooked fish, this is the blood that has been cooked. Yuk!

3) Before slicing and dicing your fish, put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (or until fish is very cold to touch), this makes it easier to cut the fish. Like sushi, make sure your knife is sharp.

4) Always cook your fish in a glass bowl or ceramic bowl (non-reactive casserole dish) and cover it tightly when it is cooking in the refrigerator. Do not use Stainless steel, aluminum and plastic bowls; the metal taste will bleed into the fish. And there is something about a good ol’fired ceramic bowl that adds flavor, this is what the maid in Todas Santos used to cook the fish in.

5) Always mix your cooking ingredients in one bowl, and set stand for a few minutes before mixing it in with the fish. The helps blend the flavors.

6) When the fish/shellfish is cooking in the refrigerator, about every half hour, go in and toss it. This does two things, 1) Keeps the cooking more uniform, and 2) lets you see how the cooking is being done.

7) Check the cooking. When tossing the fish, grab the biggest piece and pull it apart. During the marinating/cooking process the fish/shellfish will change from pinkish grey and translucent, to whiter in color and opaque. Usually for a pound, the process takes 3-4 hours. If it is not ready to serve, drain the lime juice and place back in refrigerator (with tightly sealed lid) until time to serve.

What Type of Fish to use?
When I see this question asked, and when I see the “specific” Ceviche recipe for a “Specific” Fish, I cracked up, because in reality, Ceviche it is a simple dish, the process of cutting ANY raw fish into little pieces and cooking it in the acidity of lime or lemon juice for a few hours. It is a matter of preference, dorado, tuna, cod, snapper, sea bass, tilapia, corvine, swordfish, serria (Spanish Mackerel),  marlin*, and wahoo are all good. Oh yes, shellfish is also used, shrimp, and scallops are my preferred favorites and I love to mix and match (fish and scallops, scallops and shrimp etc). However, lobster, oysters and clams can also be used.

Special note: In Costa Rica, marlin is now protected; recently the Hilton Hotels and others have removed marlin from the menu.

Cutting the Fish
Like meat, always try and cut across the grain of the fish. There are three ways to cut the fish:

• Cubing – Cutting it in 3/4 x 3/4 cubes and no less.
• Strips – The cut in long (1 1/2-2″) and thin (1/4-3/8″) strips
• Pancaking – Same as strips (my personal best) but the cut is about 1/2- 3/4 thick, and as long as you can make it.  Place the slices on wax paper and another over the top. Now flatten it out with a rolling pin as you would do with making a pizza dough.  Make it about 1/8-1/4 thick. This is perfect to drape over a mega tortilla chip and/or line and garnish a salad. This also cuts the cooking time down in half.

How Should I Serve This?
For me, Ceviche can be served with any meal as a side disk or appetizer, any-time of the day/evening snack or even a main course like Ceviche Tacos or Burritos (see recipes below). It can be served with corn tortilla chips, crackers, toasted or pita bread, flour or corn tortillas or just in a bowl or cup and eaten by itself. Ceviche and a few ice cold beers go together like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Why Does Ceviche Taste better in Latin American countries?
In Latin American countries, especially those cities by the coast, the fish is usually fresher and not frozen as the fish you would get in the US. Plus, the fruits and vegetables are sweeter and have developed more flavor,  where in the US, the picking is premature.

Basic Ceviche

• 1 lb of fresh fish/shellfish and/or mixed
• 1 small white onion – chopped
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 2 medium size vine ripe tomato or Romano Tomato – chopped
• ¼ cup of chopped cilantro (coriander leaf)
• 1 small hot chili (optional – cut coarsely)
• 10 limes (enough for at least 1 cup of juice)
• ¼ teaspoon of white or rice vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of Tabasco (optional or give it a Costa Rica Flare, add Salsa Lizano)
• ½ cup of 7-Up (Ginger Ale, Coke or even Dr. Pepper can be used *)
• 1 avocado and/or mango

* Because the limes are not that sweet in the US, many add a teaspoon of sugar. I have found that adding soda pop speeds up the cooking and gives it a distinctive/sweet flavor.

Shrimp and Sea Bass Ceviche

Preparation:

Place fish in freezer.

Juice the limes and strain to remove the pulp and seeds. Add garlic, soda pop, ½ the cilantro and tomatoes (with all juice) and seasons.  Put all into a bowl, mix and let sit for 10 + minutes.

Removing fish from freezer cut into cubes and/or strips and/or pancake.

Now add fish/shellfish to bowl and mix so all the cooking ingredients have covered the fish. Cover tightly and put in refrigerator. Toss and turn about every ½ hour until fish/shellfish is almost cooked (usually about a ½- hour before its cooked) then add remaining ingredients of tomatoes, onions etc.

Total time should be between 3-4 hours

Once fish/shellfish is cooked, remove, strain lime juice, cut avocado/mango into 3/4″ cubes and mix with fish/shellfish. Or slice mango/avocado and use as a garish.

Serve with corn tortilla chips, or crackers or whatever you want.

Tropical Ceviche

• 1 lb of fresh fish/shellfish and/or mixed equally
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 medium size vine fresh tomato or Romano Tomato
• ¼ cup of chopped cilantro (coriander leaf)
• 1 small hot chili (optional – chopped)
• 5 limes
• 2 lemons (make sure you have 1 cup of lemon and lime juice)
• ½ cup purple onion, chopped
• ½ cup red and/or green and/or yellow bell peppers – chopped into 1/4×1/4” sizes
• ½ cup parsley, finely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon of Cayenne pepper (optional and to taste)
• ½ cup of citrus juice (orange, pineapple, and/or pear (but make the amount 1/3 cup due to the sweetness) juice)
• 1 avocado and/or mango

Follow the Preparation for Basic Ceviche

Using Ceviche as a Main Dish
One thing about Ceviche, it is already cook. So using it as a main dish, all you really need to do is heat it up. Also make sure the Ceviche is drained well from the lime juice. You may want to pat the Ceviche dry with a paper towel.

Ceviche Tacos
Heat corn tortillas either by grill and/or place in very hot frying pan and heat both sizes.

In separate frying pan stir fry Ceviche until it is heated ONLY –  this only takes about a minute if not less depending on how much to put in. Try not to burn or over cook.

Once heated either smear the inside of the tortilla with your favorite guacamole recipe and/or mix avocado cubes.

Place Ceviche in middle of tortilla.

Add chopped lettuce and grated goat cheese (or any cheese of your choice), sour cream (optional)  and serve open face.

Ceviche Bean Burritos
Heat refried beans in frying pan. Once beans are hot, turn heat to low. Add Ceviche and stir until Ceviche is mixed well. The mix should be ½ and ½. The heat from the beans will heat the Ceviche. Be careful to not over cook Ceviche.

Heat flour tortillas either by grill and/or place in very hot frying pan and heat. You can also use a microwave.

Place beans and Ceviche into middle of flour tortilla and spread evenly down centered but keep it a few inches from outside of tortilla. Add chopped lettuce, choice of grated cheese, and avocado slices. Fold tortilla and serve.

Enjoy

Calypso Cruises