Community Pick
Simple Peruvian Ceviche
"The best and easiest Ceviche recipe I've ever tasted (and I've tried them all over South America). It's quick, easy and disappears quickly. The habanero peppers make it spicy without giving it the distinctive flavor of jalapenos and it's great without hot peppers too. You can adjust any of the seasonings to suit your taste. I am not a cilantro fan, but this is the only recipe in which I will tolerate cilantro."
photo by MaryLou in Caracas
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 2 lbs tilapia fillets or 2 lbs other firm white fish fillets, cubed
- 8 -10 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped (or real Peruvian Aji Amarillo, if you can find it)
- 8 -12 limes, freshly squeezed and strained to remove pulp, enough to cover fish
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced and rinsed
directions
- Combine all ingredients except red onion and mix well.
- Place red onion on top and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours before serving.
- Before serving, mix well and serve with lettuce, corn, avocado or other cold salad vegetables on the side.
- It is important to use a juicer that presses the juice out of the limes, not one that will tear the membrane of the lime sections since this will make the lime juice bitter.
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Reviews
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Ceviche is one of my favorite dishes, and this is a great recipe. A couple of notes: Peruvian cuisine uses many different peppers. Aji amarillo (literally yellow pepper) is Peruvian and quite flavorful but does not provide a lot of heat. I don't think aji amarillo will spice up this dish, though. The acid in the lime will overpower it. Traditionally, Peruvian ceviche uses aji rocoto which is a very hot red pepper, also indigenous to Peru. It is closer in heat to the habanero pepper the recipe calls for, but I think it has more flavor as oppossed to pure heat. It is available as a paste in small jars. You should be able to find it online if you don't have a market near you carrying this. Be forewarned, I am a big fan of hot food, this is very potent stuff. Also, if you are going to order your aji rocoto, go ahead and order some cancha as well. It is a corn cornel that is lightly toasted (so as not to actually pop it) and salted, then served as an accompaniment to ceviche. Peru has many variety of corn that we do not have in The States, this is one. Boil a sweet potato (camote in Spanish) and serve your ceviche (prepared with aji rocoto) on a large lettuce leaf, with a couple slices of boiled sweet potato and some cancha on the side, and you will have a delicious quite healthy, traditional Peruvian meal. Enjoy! -
I am making this recipe for the second time. My husband and I just think it is one of the tastiest Ceviche dishes, even better than the restaurants we've visited. I use Tilapia and add shrimp that I have cooked ahead of time. I also buy lime juice instead of squeezing fresh ( no bitter taste). My peppers come from my garden that my hubby planted (mild). I also serve with sweet potato and cancha on the side. Love it... -
in northern Peru we add some finely grated fresh ginger , and we salt the onion let stand 5min then rinse . and we serve with cold slices of peeled sweet potatoe also -
In Peru, this ceviche goes accompanied by fried calamari, a boiled sweet potato and corn on the cob(cut into 2 pieces). Then you would have a complete meal! -
I love this recipe - have made it twice and add some chilli as I like it a little spicy
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Tweaks
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Boil the sweet potato in orange juice. This makes it taste like what I had at my favorite Peruvian restaurant in N. Miami Beach. I add just a touch of cilantro into the marinade then taste before I add more to finished product. Yummy! -
Thia was so nice light and fresh. Just what i was looking for on a hot summer day. For the fish i used halibut since I'm not crazy about tilapia. I was unable to find a habanero pepper so used a jalapeno instead. It definitely could have used the habanero in there, since it wasn't spicy enough for my liking. -
This is my usual ceviche, and is one of the best I've had... however, I use some bay scallops instead of just fish, and key limes instead of regular Mexican limes, they aren't as bitter.
