One of my favorite, no-cook “recipes” is ceviche. I use the word recipe loosely as it’s more of a technique applied to certain types of ingredients rather than a hard and fast recipe. If you order ceviche from a dozen different restaurants you’ll get a dozen different variations. Different regions of the world have different traditional or go-to ingredients.
In Mexico, tomatoes are often used, whereas in Peru sometimes coconut milk is added. Either way, the premise is that the fish is “cooked” with citrus (vs. typical heat sources), and then mixed with various other complimenting flavors (and colors) to come together in a fresh, beautiful dish.
I’ve included a chart below for you to mix and match your own ceviche. The only real must-have ingredient is a citrus/acid to cook your fish, and if you are using pre-cooked shrimp (or no seafood at all), the citrus is still a nice, bright flavor to include as it helps pull the other ingredients together.
I made two different types of ceviche, one felt more tropical with scallops, kiwi, jicama, mango, serrano peppers, pickled onions, and cilantro, tossed with a combo of lime-orange juice. The second was a bit more subtle with cooked shrimp, tomato, orange bell peppers, cucumber, lemon-lime juice, and pickled onion and cilantro because I simply love those flavors and colors.
Get creative, think about texture (you may want some softer and some crunchier ingredients), think about color combinations, and have fun! You could even build a ceviche bar and let guests mix and match their own, with already marinated seafood – consider adding a cold, crisp, white wine!
Mix-and-Match Ceviche
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 4 As An Appetizer
Fresh Seafood – Pick One:
- ½ LB., SMALL CHOPPED OR THINLY SLICED FIRM-FLESHED FISH (HALIBUT, FLOUNDER, SOLE, SNAPPER, SEA BASS)
- SHELLFISH (SCALLOPS, SHRIMP, COOKED CRAB)
- YELLOWFIN TUNA
- Octopus
Citrus Juice – Pick 1-2 Options, ½ Cup Total
- LIME
- LEMON
- ORANGE
Mix-ins – Pick 2-4, 2 Cups Total
- TOMATO
- AVOCADO
- PICKLED ONION
- JICAMA
- RADISH
- HEARTS OF PALM
- KIWI
- MANGO
- EDAMAME
- JALAPENO
- SERRANO
- CORN
Additional – Amount Optional, As Garnish
- CILANTRO
- MINT
- COCONUT CRÈME
- GARLIC
- GINGER
- PLANTAIN CHIPS
Directions
- While your fresh fish is in the fridge, juice your chosen citrus(es), to ½ cup total. In a large bowl, mix cold seafood into citrus liquid, covering it completely (adding more citrus if necessary) and putting back into the fridge for approximately an hour to let “cook”
- Chop your chosen mix-ins, to 2 cups total
- Chop your chosen additional add-ins
- After fish has marinated for about an hour (and looks opaque – definitely more than when it started), add mix-ins and add-ins, stirring gently as to not break the delicate fish
- Serve immediately, as cold as possible
