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Ceviche from Perú

Ceviche is considered one of the flagship dishes of Peruvian gastronomy, being one of the most traditional foods that Peru offers. But like everything else, this delicious Recipe of Ceviche from Perú has an origin that we must know about.

It is said that initially, the preparation of the Recipe of Ceviche from Perú was to marinate the fish with chicha. Later, with the Hispanic presence, two ingredients of Mediterranean cuisine were added: lemon and onion. The development of the lemon in Peruvian lands, managed to shorten the preparation time of this ancestral dish.

You can taste a delicious ceviche in a City Tour in Lima.

Recipe of Ceviche from Perú

Servings: 4

Ceviche Ingredients

  • 1 kg of fresh fish (although some use frozen fish). As far as possible, opt for white fish
  • 20 lemons
  • 1 large or 2 medium red onion
  • 1 chili pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch of pepper (preferably white)
  • 1 pinch of ajinomoto seasoning (optional)
  • Some coriander leaves (optional)
  • Celery (optional)
  • For the garnish you can use if you wish: 2 cooked corn, 4 cooked sweet potatoes, 2 cooked or fried yuccas, sliced ​​fried green plantain (chifles), some lettuce leaves

Preparation of the Recipe of Ceviche from Perú

Cut the onion to the thread, in feather. It is recommended to cut the onion in half, remove the first layer, place one half on the cutting board, make thin cuts, and repeat with the other half. Once the onion is cut, wash it to remove the bitterness.

Extract the juice from the lemons by squeezing them by hand, and store the juice in a container. One point to keep in mind is that the lemon should not be squeezed until it is dry. It should be squeezed a little because if we want to remove all the juice, what we are going to achieve is that the astringent part of the lemon throws off that acidity that spoils the long-awaited ceviche for many. That is why 20 lemons are required in the recipe. We reasonably squeeze each of the 20 lemons and we will have a good amount of juice without acidity problems.

We cut the fish into squares as uniform as possible. Each one cuts the pieces to the size they like best. But if we are asked for a recommendation we would tell them to make cubes of 2 centimeters by 2 centimeters, obviously by eye, by simple calculation (do not be measuring each square with a ruler to see if it is 2 centimeters or not, that is not the idea).

Now we prepare the ají limo. For that we cut the two ends and discard them. Then we cut the chili pepper lengthwise in half, remove the seeds with a knife, taking care that they do not rub against our hands because it is not pleasant at all. Without the seeds, cut the chili into slices and we will obtain croissants. Alternatively, you can cut the chili into 2-millimeter by 2-millimeter cubes, although the traditional and simplest way is to cut it into slices.

The time has come. We place the pieces of fish in a container and season them with the salt, pepper and ají limo. If desired, we also add the optional ingredients: a pinch of ajinomoto seasoning, chopped cilantro and / or chopped celery. We stir everything and leave for three minutes for the fish to soak up the flavors.

We pour the lemon juice over the fish and add the onion.

Once we have put all the ingredients in the container, we stir them with a spoon, at a normal rate, neither too soft nor too violent. It’s about mixing the ingredients. It is also good to test the seasoning to rectify the flavor if necessary (suddenly it seems that it lacks some salt, or perhaps some chili pepper, and that is the time to correct the seasoning to your liking).

Let the preparation rest so that the raw fish cooks. What is the recommended time? It is also to everyone’s taste. There are diners who prefer almost raw fish so they eat it immediately, others prefer the fish to be cooked and for them 10 minutes is fine. For others, including myself, having 5 to 7 minutes of rest is reasonable.

Finally, the preparation is placed in a bowl and can be served with slices of cooked sweet potato, pieces of cooked or fried yucca, cooked corn, lettuce leaves, and even fried green plantains.

How to prepare Ceviche with Shrimp?

Ceviche Ingredients

  • 500 grams of shrimp
  • Juice of 15 lemons
  • 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro (cilantro)
  • 1 teaspoon ground garlic
  • 1 onion julienned (thin)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Corn teeth to accompany

Preparation of the Recipe of Ceviche with Shrimp

Place the well-washed shrimp in a saucepan with water and a pinch of salt, cook the shrimp until the first boil.

Remove the shrimp immediately after boiling and allow to cool.

Remove the shrimp tails, reserve.

In a metal container, preferably pour the crushed garlic, the lemon juice and the chopped cilantro, stir and season the preparation.

Add the shrimp tails to the preparation, stir and cook for 1 or two minutes.

Make a bed of onion on the plate and add the preparation on top of the onion.

Accompany with corn teeth.