What is the Best Way to Eat fish?
This is a traditional peruvian ceviche recipe for a dish called ceviche. The traditional way to prepare ceviche is to marinade for three hours chunks of raw fish in lime juice, chunks of onion, chili peppers, lemons, and garlic.
Then, the Ceviche is prepared with a thickening agent like okra or egg. The typical fish used in this dish is called tuna. The meat is cut into pieces and cooked with onions, Chile Peppers, and other seasonings.
The finished product is a fillet that is one of the best in the world. Other favorites are red snapper, black sea bass, rockfish, striped bass, black cod, white perch, and muskellunge. You can name many other fish that are used in many traditional Peruvian ceviche recipes.
Peruvian Ceviche Recipe
Peruvian fish cebiche recipe prepared with the best fish, limes, onions, spicy peppers, and cilantro. Served with boiled corn, sweet potato, plantain chips, and/or cancha or Andean corn nuts.
Ingredients For Peruvian Ceviche Recipe
- 1 ½ pounds very fresh and high quality fish filets corvina, halibut, escolar, hamachi, mahi-mahi
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice from about 35- 40 key limes, or 15-20 Peruvian limes
- 1-2 habanero peppers cut in half, without seeds and deveined
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh cilantro
- Salt to taste
- Finely chopped cilantro to taste
To serve Peruvian Ceviche Recipe:
- Lettuce leaves
- Cancha, tostado or chulpe corn nuts
- Fresh boiled corn
- Sweet potato: thinly fried or baked chips or boiled thick slices
- Chifles or fried green plantain chips
- Diced or sliced hot peppers – optional
- Olive oil – optional
- Lime slices
Instructions to Cook Peruvian Ceviche Recipe
- Cut the fish into small cubes, place in a glass bowl and cover with cold water and 1 tablespoon of salt, cover and refrigerate while you prepare the onions and juice the limes.
- Rub the thin onion slices with 1/2 tablespoon of salt and rinse in cold water.
- Rinse the fish to remove the salt
- Place the cubes of fish, half of the sliced onions, and hot peppers in a glass bowl and pour the lime juice over the ingredients. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt. To minimize the acidity of the limes you can put a few ice cubes in the mix.
- Cover and refrigerate for about 5-15 minutes.
- Remove the cilantro sprigs and the hot peppers from the mix. Taste the fish ceviche and add additional salt if needed.
- Use a spoon to place the ceviche in each serving bowl, add additional sliced onions to each bowl, sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro, and diced or sliced hot peppers.
- Serve immediately with your choice of sides and garnishes.
Notes
Soaking the fish in cold salt water helps it keep a firm texture. Rinsing the onions with salt and cold water helps remove their bitterness. Adding ice cubes to the cebiche mix helps neutralize the acidity of the limes – this is especially true for the South American limon sutil variety, but less needed for the Mexican limes found in the US.
The type of lime used to make cebiche is also important; in Ecuador and Peru, there is a lime variety known as limon sutil, which is slightly smaller than Mexican limes and slightly larger than a key lime.
This lime has a higher acidity level than Mexican limes, allowing it to “cook” the fish more quickly; its flavor is also more similar to that of a key lime. I use a combination of Mexican and key limes when making shrimp ceviche, but I prefer to use only key limes when making fish cebiche, especially the Peruvian version.
Peruvian ceviche recipe usually includes some type of aji or hot pepper, one of the most popular is called aji Amarillo, which can be found frozen and/or canned in the most Latin grocery stores in the US. Another popular type of aji is called aji limo, which is very similar to a habanero. I love spice and heat so I used habaneros for this recipe, but you can also use aji Amarillo or a more mild type of hot pepper if you prefer.
Was this helpful?
Hi there! I’m a food enthusiast and journalist, and I have a real passion for food that goes beyond the kitchen. I love my dream job and I’m lucky enough to be able to share my knowledge with readers of several large media outlets. My specialty is writing engaging food-related content, and I take pride in being able to connect with my audience. I’m known for my creativity in the kitchen, and I’m confident that I can be the perfect guide for anyone looking to take their culinary journey to the next level.
