I have long been fascinated with ceviche (“seh-BEE-chay”). The idea of fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro and seafood ingredients, toss together and marinated in citrus and peppers, just sounds wonderfully appetizing to me. However, I cannot get past the “raw” fish or shellfish that is the star among the mix.
Traditional thought is that marinating the seafood in citrus “cooks” it. But in actuality, while it does change the texture of the fish or shell fish to a more firm, translucent state, mimicking cooked seafood, the citrus juice combination does not kill any bacteria that may be present. So “fresh” must mean fantastic quality straight out of the ocean. That’s why many ceviche restaurants along the South American coast close by 4 pm, because the fresh catch from that morning is no longer fresh.

Enter today’s recipe, which developed this recipe after watching my friend Elva Ramirez prepare a huge pan of ceviche for a fiesta at her house. Elva makes her ceviche with already cooked shrimp, so there are no worries serving it any time of the day or even for leftovers, should you be so lucky, the next day.
I love to pile it by the spoonful on crisp tortilla chip . If you’ve ever been fascinated by the thought of ceviche, give this “beginners” recipe a try. I’ll stick to this version until I’m lucky enough to be sitting on the beach in South America watching the seafood coming off the boats early in the morning.