My brother Ramon’s fish ceviche recipe (ceviche de pescado), made with fish “cooked” in lime juice with hot peppers and garlic, and then mixed with red onions (or shallots), tomatoes, bell peppers, and cilantro.
Course Appetizer, Fish
Cuisine Ecuadorian, Latin, South American
Keyword Cebiche, Ceviche, Ecuadorian ceviche, Fish ceviche
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 8people, as an appetizer
Ingredients
2poundsof white fish filletscorvina, halibut, sea bass, tilapia, mahi mahi, snapper, cut into small square pieces
2-3hot pepperscan use Ecuadorian style aji peppers, red chilies, or serranos, sliced
2-4garlic cloveswhole but gently crushed (optional)
2-3small red onionsuse Ecuadorian style cebolla paiteña or replace with 4-5 large shallots, peeled and finely sliced
4tomatoesdiced
2bell peppersany color, diced
20 small to medium sized limesseparated into about 10 limes to cook the fish and 10 limes for the onion and tomato marinade
Aji sauce or diced hot peppers for those who want to add extra spice
Instructions
Place the diced raw fish in a large bowl or dish with the sliced hot peppers, garlic cloves, a tablespoon of chopped cilantro, 1-2 teaspoons of salt, and cover it with lime juice from about 10 limes, the fish should be completely covered or almost completely covered by the lime juice.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 3-4 hours.
Place the sliced onions or shallots in a bowl, sprinkle them with a few teaspoons of salt and add warm water (enough to cover the onions), let rest for about 10 minutes, drain and rinse well with cold water.
Combine the rinsed onions with the diced tomatoes and diced bell peppers. Add the juice from about 5 limes and some salt. Let this mix marinate for at least 10 minutes, it can also be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to mix with the fish.
Once the fish is “cooked” in the lime juice, it should be completely white, remove the sliced hot peppers and garlic cloves. Based on your preference, and the acidity level, you can keep all the lime juice where the fish cooked in, or just some of it. You can strain the liquid to remove any pieces of hot peppers (or seeds) or garlic.
Add the marinated onion or shallot, tomato, and bell pepper mix to the fish. Add the chopped cilantro, oil, salt and additional lime juice to taste. You can serve immediately or let it rest for another 20-30 minutes before serving.
Serve with chifles, patacones, popcorn or corn nuts as well as with some good hot sauce or aji.