Mexican Ceviche

Ceviche is a fresh and bright dish where fish is “cooked” by marinating it in lime juice. If you haven’t heard of ceviche before, “cooking” without cooking does sound very strange but it works! (read this for more info). There are lots of types of ceviche out there, the kind I make most closely resembles the Mexican style. This is a great fresh appetizer to bring to a party. Equally as good enjoyed at home as a light meal or side dish.

If you have 12-16 hours you can make traditional ceviche. If you are like me and sometimes forget to make it in time you can cheat and poach the shrimp for 30 seconds in boiling water. This cuts your marinating time down to 4-6 hours (mine took 6). Cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces also speeds up the process. Whole shrimp usually take me almost 24 hours to be fully "cooked"! Any recipe that claims 20 or 30 minutes is smoking crack. Seriously, how are they getting that to happen?

MEXICAN CEVICHE

1lb raw shrimp

1 cup fresh lime juice

6 small tomatoes, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 of a slightly firm avocado, chopped (more for garnish)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Crushed red pepper to taste

1. For the traditional method, marinate defrosted raw shrimp in 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice for 12-16 hours until opaque. Expedited method, poach shrimp in salted boiling water for 30 seconds, marinate in 1 cup fresh squeezed lime for 4-6 hours.

2. Once shrimp is pink and opaque through, drain and reserve 1/4 cup lime juice. Add the 1/4 cup lime juice back into the shrimp.

3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients, folding gently so you don’t mash the avocado.

4. Garnish with additional avocado and serve with chips.

I like frozen shrimp for this because it will be fresher and likely safer since it has been frozen for long enough to kill anything in it. To start, defrost your shrimp in cold water.

If your shrimp have tails or shells, remove them. I find tails are easy to pop off by holding the shrimp body and firmly pulling from the end of the tail.

If using the expedited method, poach the shrimp in salted boiling water for 30 seconds. Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and chop them into bite size pieces.

After 30 seconds in boiling water the shrimp will still be raw and translucent inside.

It took me five larger limes to get one cup of juice. If you have a juicer this should be enough. If you are squeezing by hand, buy six or seven limes.

If you drink a lot of citrus I highly recommend getting a juicer. They aren’t too expensive and they will save you money by extracting much more juice than a hand juicer. This is my juicer.

Pour the lime juice over the chopped shrimp, cover with plastic and store in the fridge.

Six hours later. The color change is slight, but you will see the previously grey centers of the shrimp will be firm and opaque.

Drain the shrimp, reserving 1/4 (or more lime juice). Add the shrimp to a large bowl and pour in reserved lime juice.

You can use white or red onion. I like the jalapeno but if you can’t do spice use a poblano or green pepper. If you like spice, I suggest adding a few dashes of crushed red pepper as well as the jalapeno.

Remove stems from cilantro and wash the leaves. Dry them and roughly chop. Add to the shrimp.

Mince the jalapeno small and add to shrimp.

Mince the onion small as well, add three tablespoons.

Fold in the garlic, salt, oil, crushed red pepper (if using) and all veggies besides the avocado.

It will look a lot like salsa. Once thoroughly mixed, add avocado.

I like to add the avocado last so it doesn’t get mashed up. This is another reason to choose a semi-firm avocado. If it’s too ripe it will mash up while stirring. 

Chop the avocado and gently fold in, separating pieces that stick together. 

Top with an avocado flower and serve chilled! I like this with tortilla chips, but it would be pretty served in an individual cup or alongside more hearty sides as a meal.