Confused about ingredients and marinating times for Peruvian Ceviche?  Join the club.  (Well, if you are not already confused, perhaps you will be by the time you finish reading this post.)  Ingredient recommendations range from thyme, fennel and skate to corn, sweet potato and fluke—and everything in between.  Some recipes recommend cutting the fish into cubes, others exalt in delicate slivers.  Times range from marinating 10 minutes to overnight!  The one standard seems to be seafood, chilies and copious amounts of lime juice.

I contrived this recipe after studying several others and combining ingredients I had at hand.  I served it as a first course for Christmas Eve dinner that concluded with a shrimp, corn and sweet potato chowder (channeling the authentically recommended corn and sweet potato that are often included in the ceviche).  I felt that this variation included enough of the authentic flair with appropriate food safety.  For an excellent discussion about food safety with ceviche, see Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook’s post.

4-6 servings (as appetizer or salad)

• 1 lb firm white fish (I used cod that had previously been frozen–on the boat when caught, so I’m fairly confident it was deeeeeep frozen. Other suggestions: halibut, fluke, lingcod, seabass, flounder, etc.), sliced ¼ inch thick on the bias to make bite-sized medallions
• Water and salt
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1-1 ½ C lime juice (or enough to cover) (could be 8-9 limes)

Add-ins:

• 1 aji chile, (about ¼ C minced) (I used a combination of jalapeno and Hungarian pepper)
• 1 medium red tomato, seeded and diced fine (about ½ C)
• ¼ C yellow tomatoes or peppers, diced
• 3 T capers
• 1 clove garlic, finely diced
• 1/3 C of the marinated onions finely diced (add after these are done marinating)

Dressing

• 1/3 C olive oil
• 1/3 C reserved lime marinade
• 1 T sugar
• salt

Salad:

• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber (de-seeded and cut into half moons)
• 8 radishes
• ½ C rough chopped cilantro

Method

• Put sliced fish into salted cold water and refrigerate for an hour. Supposedly, this helps tenderize the fish.
• Remove from water and pat fish dry.
• Layer fish and red sliced onion in a glass or non-reactive pan (enamel or plastic or glass).
• Cover with lime juice.
• Refrigerate for 1 ½ hours.
• When done marinating and ready to serve, arrange the salad items (not the fish) on individual plates in symmetrical or haphazard manner—your choice. (Nice if your plates are chilled.)
• Remove fish from lime marinade and onions. Set aside and keep chilled. Reserve lime juice.
• Chop up 1/3 C of marinated onions and add to bowl with the other add-ins.
• Add 1/3 C of lime juice to the dressing ingredients and mix well. Season to taste. And then mix the dressing into the add-ins.
• Plate fish on the salad plates.
• Top with the add-ins/dressing and arrange artistically.