Ceviche Recipes

Ceviche is a popular cool tropical no-cook dish in Florida, served in restaurants everywhere. This versatile, refreshing, easy to prepare dish can be made with many types of fresh seafood with the main ingredients being citrus juice and salt. The citrus juice and salt literally cook raw seafood, so preparing is easy - squeeze fresh citrus, chop your fish and other ingredients, mix and marinate - that it!

The origins of Ceviche are believed to be a dish from Spain that made it's way to the Caribbean, Central and South America, eventually finding it's way to America's southern states. Peru is granted the title of Ceviche capital of the America's since they claim the dish was first served in Peru. In Mexico, Ceviche is a staple in their diet and used in many dishes. In Florida, adding Ceviche to the Floridians diet was an easy adaptation, locals found this delicious cold dish refreshing after a hot day fishing and in Florida there is an abundant supply of lemons, limes and seafood.

Citrus juice is the main ingredient of all variations of Ceviche. Citrus juice's acidic acid literally cooks raw seafood after a very short time, usually 2 to 3 hours. Some purists like their seafood raw, so they will just mix up a batch of Ceviche and eat it right away. Others with cast-iron stomachs will mix up a batch of Ceviche, eat the mix and reserving the juices, then adding to the reserved juices more seafood and veggies making another batch. This is common with fisherman who keep the batch going for weeks at a time. We don't recommend this due to the risks of food poisoning from raw seafood, but if you have a cast-iron stomach, go for it.

There are many variations by country, some are much more poignant than others, it depends on how much hot ingredients are added.

Ceviche Variations by Country
Florida Lemon & Lime Juice Salt Cilantro Leaves Onion Celery Bell Pepper Jalapeno or Scotch Bonnet Peppers Conch, Shrimp, Fish	Mexico Lime Juice Salt Cilantro Leaves Onions Chili Peppers Avocado Tomatoes Octopus, Shrimp, Squid, Tuna or Mackerel	Cuba Lime Juice Salt Onion Green Pepper Habanera Pepper Allspice Mahi Mahi, Squid or Tuna
Panama Lemon Juice Sea Salt Yerba Buena Onion Celery Habanera Pepper Octopus, Shrimp, Squid or White Sea Bass	Costa Rica Lime Juice Salt & Pepper Onion Peppers finely minced Cilantro Tilapia, Mahi Mahi, Marlin, Shark	Peru Key Lime or Bitter Orange Juice Salt & Pepper Onions Chili Pepper Garlic (regional) Toasted Corn (regional) Seaweed (regional) Sea Bass, Shark or Sole
El Salvador Lime Juice Salt & Pepper Yerba Buena Onion Tomato Worcester Sauce Hot Sauce	Chili Lime & Grapefruit Juices Garlic Red Chili Peppers Fresh Mint or Fresh Cilantro	Ecuador Lime Juice Salt Shrimp, Clams, Oysters, Sea Bass, Octopus or Crab Regional Variation: Tomato Juice w/Shrimp

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche

Preparing Ceviche

The Container: Prepare the Ceviche marinate in a large glass bowl, plastic container or in a ziplock bag. Metal bowls should not be used as they react negatively with citrus acids and make the dish taste tinny.
Squeeze Your Fruit: First, grate your lemons or limes and reserve the rinds which can be added to the Ceviche or frozen for later use. Cut the fruits in half and squeeze out the juices using a hand juicer or electric juicer. Pour measured juices into your container.
Chop your other ingredients then add to the container and mix.
Season with salt, hot sauce, rind and pepper to taste. Stir well.
Wash & Chop: Wash fresh seafood, pat dry, and chop into bite size pieces. Add seafood to the container and mix well.
Marinate: Cover container and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.

Ceviche can be prepared well in advance of serving time and stored in the refrigerator. The longer the seafood is in the citrus juices, the more it cooks and the firmer it gets. Remember that you are using raw seafood, so be aware of the risks involved with eating raw fish.

Many Ways to Serve Ceviche

As a cool, refreshing summer treat, Ceviche can be served many ways usually garnished with fresh cilantro leaves:

Silver bowl with ceviche in it made in Costa Rica

In a glass or crystal dish as an appetizer
In clear plastic cups for a picnic treat
In a hollowed out avocado or tomato as a main dish or appetizer
On a large platter, put a pile in the middle of the plate and surround with tortilla chips
As a cracker spread or topping
As a cold stew in a soup bowl
Place a large scoop on top of a fresh salad, no salad dressing needed
Use as a Tostada topping
Use as a Taco filling or salsa
Use as a grilled fish topping
As an Antipasto Plater with sliced tomatoes, avocado, chunks of cheese
Fill a plastic container full, thow in your cooler and take it to the beach or on your next fishing trip for a refreshing lunch.
Brandon of Panama City puts Ice Cream in a cup and tops it with Ceviche

Recipes

All recipes are prepared as described above - chop, squeeze, mix it all up and marinate several hours. You can mix and match ingredients if you wish, this is a very forgiving dish. Chopping the seafood and veggies into little chunks or big chunks is up to you, just make them all uniform - many like their Ceviche to resemble salsa and others want a chunky salad. Just be sure all ingredients are covered with juice so they get "cooked" through; if you don't have enough marinate just add more juice from another lemon or lime.
Note: 1 Lime = 4 Key Limes; Leaves = fresh green leaves, not dried

Chunky Fish Ceviche
1 1/2 pounds Firm Fish, cut into 1" chunks
1 cup Lime Juice, fresh squeezed
2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 cup Cilantro Leaves
2 to 4 Serrano Peppers, roasted, peeled, chopped
Salt to taste
1 Avocado, cut into 1" chunks
1 Tomato, cut into 1" chunks

Fish Ceviche
2 pounds firm Fish, cut into 1" chunks
1/2 cup Lime Juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 cup Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 Red Onion, diced
1 cup Tomatoes, chopped
1 Jalapeno or Serrano, chopped
2 teaspoons Salt
Dash each Oregano & Cayenne Pepper

Bay Scallop Ceviche
1 pound Bay Scallops
3 Lemons, fresh squeezed
3 Limes, fresh squeezed
1 cup Olive Oil
1 pound Tomatoes, chopped in scallop sized chunks
1 Onion, chopped
1/4 cup Cilantro Leaves
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Pepper, fresh ground

Sweet & Sour Shrimp Ceviche
2 cups Shrimp, cut into 1" pieces
1/2 Red Onion, thin slices
1 Lime, fresh squeezed
1/4 Orange Juice, about 1/2 orange fresh squeezed
1/2 cup Ketchup
1 tablespoon Vinegar
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 cup Corn Kernels, fresh from cob
1/4 cup Cilantro Leaves

Pineapple Conch Ceviche
2 pounds Conch, diced into small cubes
1/2 Pineapple, peeled, cored, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup Water
2 Lemons, fresh squeezed
1 Onion, diced
1 Tomato, diced (optional)
1/2 cup Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Salt to taste

Minty Grapefruit Ceviche
1 pound Fish
1/2 Grapefruit, fresh squeezed
4 Limes, fresh squeezed
1 Red Chili, diced fine
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 medium Onion, finely sliced
Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste

Puerto Rican Ceviche
1/2 pound Shrimp
1/2 pound Bay Scallops
1/2 pound Fish
1 cup Red Onion, diced
1 cup Pineapple, diced in small chunks
2 Jalapeno's, seeded & diced
2 cups Tomatoes, seeded & chopped
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 cup Lime Juice, fresh squeezed
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup Avocado, small chunks (add at serving time)
Note: Marinate time is 4 hours for this dish

Florida Seafood Ceviche
1 Spiny Lobster Tail, chunked
1 pound Shrimp, chopped
1 pound Bay Scallops
2 1/2 cups Orange Juice, fresh squeezed
1 cup Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed
3/4 Lime Juice, fresh squeezed
1 Sweet Onion, diced small
2 Tomatoes, diced
2 Mangoes, diced
1 Jalapeno Pepper, finely diced
1 bunch Cilantro Leaves, chopped
Note: You can cook the seafood first then mix and marinate 4 hours.

Orange Mango Ceviche
1/2 pound Fish, diced
1 Orange, juiced
1 Lemon or Lime, juiced
2 Mandarin Oranges, Juiced
1 Yellow Pepper, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 bunch Green Onions, diced
1 Mango, diced
4 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Ginger, fresh grated
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix & Match - Make Your Own Ceviche Recipe
Seafood Conch Scallops Shrimp Squid Octopus Clams Oysters Mahi Shark Amberjack Marlin Tuna Mackerel Cobia Sea Bass	Citrus Juice Base Lime Juice - regular or Key Limes Lemon Juice Lemon and Lime Juice Combined Bitter Orange Juice Orange Juice Grapefruit Juice Tomato Juice (popular with Shrimp) Coconut Milk	Other Marinate Ingredients Sea Salt, Pepper Onions - Red onion is most commonly used Green Onions Garlic Celery Green, Red, or Yellow Pepper Tomatoes Avocado Corn, fresh from the cob or roasted Olives Hot Peppers - Serrano, Jalapeno or Habanera Fresh Cilantro, Parsley or Mint Leaves Tabasco, Worcester or Hot Sauce for extra zip Lemon or Lime Rind Mango Passion Fruit

Portuguese Snail Salad (Conch Salad)

OK, this isn't Ceviche but similar and served the same as Ceviche. We love this recipe because it is a little different and just as refreshing as Ceviche. This Snail salad is best marinated for days before serving. Many use cooked, canned Snails, especially Northerners, but in the South we chop the Snails in small pieces, use citrus juice and cook in the juices for several days.

4 cups Large Snails or Conch, thinly sliced length wise
Large Red Onion, chopped
3 ribs Celery, chopped
1 6 oz can Black Olives, cut olives in half (if you like more olives use 2 cans)
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 cup White Vinegar (some use red wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons Dried Parsley or Italian Spices