Ceviche/Seviche

[hummingbirdkiss]

I learned to make ceviche 26 years ago when I lived in Panama .. I was so lucky to be able to have an abundent supply of fish to make it with ..but corvina was the single best fish I still think

I am a purist and only make it and serve it one way ..the way I learned

with freshly squeezed Caribbean lime juice, sweet onion and scotch bonnet peppers

you have to scrape or shave the fresh fish into a bowl and leave over night

serve on saltine crackers with beer

any other way just isn't the same to me

since I have lived in WA I have indeed made it with some very fresh Copper River salmon

it was fantastic

Edited August 22, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

hi guys, 1st post.  quick question.

how long can the fish sit in the lime juice?  i know the minimum ranges anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours, but if it sits for 12 hours or so, is it going to break down the fish or mess up the flavor?  i was thinking about taking a batch with me to work and prepping it the night before.

thoughts?

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I always leave it over night and have done exactly that taken it to work the next day

[Jaymes]

I learned to make ceviche 26 years ago when I lived in Panama .. I was so lucky to be able to have an abundent supply of fish to make it with ..but corvina was the single best fish I still think

I am a purist and only make it and serve it one way ..the way I learned

with freshly squeezed Caribbean lime juice, sweet onion and scotch bonnet peppers

you have to scrape or shave the fresh fish into a bowl and leave over night

serve on saltine crackers with beer

any other way just isn't the same to me

Boy, you and me both. The restaurant from which we hauled out ceviche by the gallon-jugsfull was Restarante de las Americas. Do you know it?

I asked a fishmonger in the US about corvina, and he said it was a type of sea bass, so that's what I use here, when I can find it crazy fresh. Freezing or parboiling does affect the final texture negatively, I think.

Here's the recipe our cook used and with which I have had considerable success:

Ceviche Panamá

Fresh fish -- white firm (corvina if you can get it)

white or yellow onion, chopped

4 hot chiles (whatever you like, jalapenos are easy to find) to taste, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped (and you can use any mild pepper, but bell peppers are easy to find)

scant 1/2 cup chopped sweet red peppers (can use jarred pimentos)

fresh limes, just about as many as you can squeeze, to cover fish

1/4 C white vinegar

1/4 C olive oil

1/2 tsp oregano, lightly toasted and rubbed between your palms

salt and pepper to taste

Skin, bone, and chop fresh fish into small bite-sized pieces. Place in glass bowl and add fresh lime juice to cover. Add vinegar, oil, oregano, S&P.

Seal bowl and place in refrigerator to "cook."

When fish flesh is firm, serve with saltines. Condiments: bottled hot sauce, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, etc.

Can serve on tostados.

Edited August 23, 2007 by Jaymes (log)

[hummingbirdkiss]

I think I do remember that place! ...we have tailgated each other all over for sure!!!

I think a lot of fish is called "sea bass" and really I am at this point not sure other than the chilean sea bass what I am getting when I order/buy sea bass I have gotten to the point I just pick fish out and try it most of the time because depending where I buy in what part of the country it is called something else...I have seen corvina in Florida Mahi Mahi aka Dolphin fish is good as well for this dish ..

in addition to the above about the texture changing ..that is the point with ceviche it is supposed to be a "cooked" like texture! it is "cooked" in the lime juice you dont want ti sashimi like you want the texture you get from marinating or pickleing it overnight ..

at least that is how I know the dish

Edited August 22, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The only kind of ceviche I've had is a shrimp based one. Shrimp, tomato, cucumbers, onions and a touch of citrus... yummy.

[jsmith]

The only kind of ceviche I've had is a shrimp based one. Shrimp, tomato, cucumbers, onions and a touch of citrus... yummy.

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If the lime juice doesn't kill the parasites, why is it ok to eat shrimp cerviche?

I always thought shrimp were one of those things you should never eat raw... are raw shrimp generally ok to eat?

[bigbear]

I use cooked shrimp for ceviche.

[Gabriel Lewis]

The only kind of ceviche I've had is a shrimp based one. Shrimp, tomato, cucumbers, onions and a touch of citrus... yummy.

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If the lime juice doesn't kill the parasites, why is it ok to eat shrimp cerviche?

I always thought shrimp were one of those things you should never eat raw... are raw shrimp generally ok to eat?

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You shouldn't eat shrimp raw because their digestive tracts contain a lot of bacteria that, while symbiotic when the shrimp are alive, cause the shrimp to detoriate rapidly when dead. This is why shrimp are usually sold head removed, as the digestive tract is located between the head and tail. If the shrimp are fresh enough, I would have no qualms about eating them raw. The FDA and the like always make a big fuss about ceviche not killing all the bad stuff, but if the seafood is immersed in undiluted lime juice long enough for it to fully penetrate all the way to the center of each piece, I don't see how any bad stuff could survive. The pH of lime juice is much too low for any microbes, or any form of life really to survive any signifcant period of time in such an acid medium. If you do make shrimp ceviche, I would use small shrimp are cut larger shrimp into smaller pieces though, and I would only use fresh shrimp, sort of the same way one approaches fish choices for sushi.

The time the fish needs to sit in the lime juice will depend on how thick it is, i.e. how long it will take the lime to fully penetrate the fish. Whenever a peruvian friend of mine made this it only took about 10-15 minutes, as the fish was fully immersed in lime juice ,and the fish was cut very thin. You could tell it was ready when the fish had turned fully white. I don't have as much experience with traditional ceviche, but it would take a lot longer if the fish were cut into chunks.

My peruvian friend also usually used seabass, but he always said any white fleshed ocean fish would do.

[Domestic Goddess]

I echo the fact that you need very fresh fish for cerviche. My mom would only fix cerviche when she found freshly caught/delivered fish at the market or when Dad would jog early in the morning to catch fishermen returning to land with their haul.

Taking in consideration the cleaning with vinegar and marinating time, I would say 10-15 minutes. You want the fish to turn white but not get tough in the vinegar. But I would confess indulging in leftover cerviche marinating in the fridge for hours.

[Chris Amirault]

You've inspired an eG Cook-Off: click here!

[bigbear]

This is an photo of the shrimp ceviche as it is served by the El Tambo restaurant in Tumbaco, Ecuador.

I posted this photo and others about 3 years ago in the eG Ecuador topic.