This is my friend Mafi’s recipe for Ecuadorian fish ceviche or ceviche de pescado ecuatoriano. This fish ceviche is made by made by marinating or cooking raw fish in lime juice and mixing it with onions, tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro. Mafi learned how to make this ceviche from her dad and she showed me how to make it years ago when we both lived in Austin. Her original recipe used only green bell peppers, but any type of bell pepper will do, so I usually add a yellow or orange one to add some additional color. She used white onions, mainly because she isn’t a fan of onions, but I prefer to use red onions.
Ingredients
- 2lb of white fish fillets (corvina, halibut, sea bass, tilapia, sole), cut into small square pieces
- 2 red onions diced very finely
- 4 tomatoes diced very finely
- 2 bell peppers, assorted colors, chopped very finely
- ~20 small to medium sized limes, separated into about 10 limes to cook the fish and 10 limes for the ceviche marinade
- 1 bunch of cilantro (also known as coriander) chopped as finely as possible
- A few tablespoons of oil (sunflower, avocado, etc), adjust to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the raw fish pieces in a glass dish and cover it with salt and lime juice from about 10-12 limes, the fish should be completely covered by lime juice.
- Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator, let the fish marinate or cook itself in the lime juice for 3-4 hours.
- Mix the onions, tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro with the juice from the remaining limes and let marinate for about an hour.
- Once the fish is “cooked” in the lime juice, strain it and remove the liquid it “cooked” in (you can keep it if you want and it include it in the final ceviche, but some find it too acidic). Mix the fish with the lime marinated vegetables, add salt and oil to taste.
- Serve with chifles, patacones, tostones or popcorn.
I love ceviche. I just hear the word or see a picture of it and my mouth instantly waters. I also have an untested theory that a ceviche diet would be the best way to eat delicious food and loose several pounds at the same time (but you would need to avoid the crunchy fried garnishes). Ceviche, also known as cebiche or seviche, is a typical dish from the coast in Ecuador. Obviously it is also very popular in other Latin American countries and there a lot of different variations. However we like to think that ours is the best – I’m sure other countries make the same claim (and I’ll probably get trolled by one particular country that thinks they own exclusive rights to ceviche).
Even within Ecuador, there are several different ceviche versions made with all types of seafood and additional ingredients. Several coastal cities are always arguing about which one makes the best ceviche. Personally I find that as long as fresh ingredients and good quality fish are used, they’re all good. It just comes down to your preference, which might be the variation that you grew up eating. There are restaurants and places that will sometimes pre-cook the fish by blanching it with boiling water. I’m not a fan of that method, so I always ask before ordering how they make it. I used to think it was just people being lazy, but it’s more being overly cautious about raw fish. It is changing, but people in Ecuador are sometimes very hesitant about eating raw fish (but sushi is becoming very popular) or even having a medium rare steak (I’ve seen so many people send back steaks if they have any bit of pink).
Ecuadorian fish ceviche is usually made using corvina, also known as merluza, which is similar to sea bass. I used to find actual corvina in Austin at Central Market but I haven’t yet seen it in Seattle (plus there is such an amazing fish selection here). I was using tilapia, red snapper, sole, or mahi mahi until my dad told me that halibut was closer to corvina. So I tried the fish ceviche with halibut and it worked perfectly. Halibut has the perfect consistency and also visually turns into a very nice white color when cooked in the lime juice. You can use any white fillet fish that will maintain a nice firm consistency. Next time I’ll introduce you to my brother’s version of fish ceviche (ahh my mouth is watering).
Ecuadorian fish ceviche is served with sides or garnish choices of patacones or thick fried green plantains, chifles or very thin fried green plantain chips, maiz tostado or corn nuts, and/or popcorn, plus some aji hot sauce for those who want a spicy touch. Ceviche also known as one of the best hangover cures (not that I need those anymore…).
Step by step preparation photos for Ecuadorian fish ceviche:
Busca la receta de ceviche de pescado en español? Esta aqui.
Other ceviche recipes:
My daughter shared your recipe with me and I can’t wait to give it a try. I would like to point out, though, that Halibut and Sea Bass are not the same, in fact the are two completely different species; the Halibut being a bottom-dwelling flatfish, like Flounder and Sole, and Sea Bass are more closely related to the Perch family. Either way, they’re both delicious fish.
Laylita se puede usar dorado para hacer este ceviche?
Hola Emilia – Si, queda muy bien con dorado (tambien conocido como mahi-mahi).
Hi Laylita querida!
Your web page is fabulous! I am impresses to the max…An amazing mix of the genious, investigating mind from your Dad and the joy of cooking and sharing love of your Mom!
Great for perpetuating Ecuadorian cultural and traditional cooking…They must be so proud…
Congratulation and keep up the good work!
All the best to you and family!
Durga
Do green bell peppers really taste different from yellow bell peppers and orange bell peppers? I just know that my mom always gets red bell peppers because she claims they taste sweeter.
Hi Heather – Your mom is right, the yellow and orange (and red) bell peppers taste sweeter than the green ones.
Thank you for your cheviche recipes and really all your Ecuadorian recipes. My husband is from there but doesn’t have any recipes and only really makes rice and estofado. All of your recipes look great and I love the pictures to follow.
I never had ceviche in my life, but I heard many times abouit it. Last week I tried it at a peruvian restaurant and I was fascinated by the taste. Just like you described, mouth watering. Today I tried it at home using your recipe an it came out faboulos. Everyony at home liked it.
Thanks for sharing you recipe, will be on the table many more times in the future.
Tony
Made this today and it came out great! Although I will borrow my mother’s lime/lemon juicer next time!!!
Hi thank you for the recipe. My mouth is watering. Can you tell me how many it serves I think I can eat all of that myself. TIA
Hi Alvina – This recipe is for about 8-10 people, more or less depending on hunger level :)
nice recipe. i have been trying to figure out which is th ebest corvina i nthe u/s/a my dad from ambato Ecuador tells me its sea trout.. or just silver trout. im not really sure but im trying to ifigure oput the best one by just doing online research. The peruvian style is actually my favorite for the white fish ceviches.. the flavors are perfect with the way its marinated, i live in queens nyc so we have many ceviche options. The shrimp is best offcourse from ecuador.. and i use the stock method described in the comment above.. i cook al the shells for about 15 minutes. and use that same drained hot water to cook the shrimp no longer than 1 minute (depends on the size of shrimp) then add peeled desseeded tomatoes chopped, a tea spoon of cilantro ( or more if you really like it like me ) and sliced red onions. which if i do very very thin in a mandolin i just add to the ceviche, if i do it by hand, i first wash them in hot water then marinate them separably in lemon or lime juice with a tad of salt.
dont forget to add chopped fresh or dried chillies and soem kethchup and a drop or two of orange juice or any sweet juice.. yummmmy… after coooling down itn he fridge i go ahead and use my lime juicer to add about 5 limes to the shrimp stock…. thats when the majic happens..!
and only use white pepper !!
My husband’s family is Ecuadorian so I’ve learned to cook the food which is delicious!To make this ceviche I buy the shrimp shell on and once peeled I make a stock with the shells. Once the stock is done I put fresh ground pepper and ketchup into the stock. I pore the stock over the prepared ceviche. Make it as soupy as you like. This will give it extra flavor.