Easy Shrimp Ceviche Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Is it OK to use frozen shrimp for ceviche? ›

Yes, you can use frozen shrimp for this recipe (in fact, most "fresh" shrimp you buy at the market is actually defrosted frozen shrimp), but you'll need to thaw it first.

Depending on the size of the fish pieces, you will need at least 30 minutes and normally an hour for the citrus to “cook” the fish. Two hours is fine, but beyond that the ceviche, while still good, becomes more of a pickled fish thing. It's a subtle difference, but you can taste it.

Here's how to do it:

Place the pieces in a bowl and cover entirely with ½ cup fresh lime juice. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. The shrimp will "cook" and turn pink. After 20 minutes, drain the shrimp pieces, discarding the lime juice.

I leave the shrimp in the poaching liquid until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. You can tell when the shrimp is cooked when it's firm and opaque throughout.

One of the joys of really great ceviche is the contrast between the exterior and the center of the fish. "Consider each slice of fish to be like a little steak. You want a well-cooked exterior layer, but plenty of rare to medium-rare meat in the center."

Fresh White Fish – for this recipe, you'll want to find fresh, flaky white fish. We used halibut, but redfish, mahi-mahi, snapper, trout, and cod are all great choices too. Lime Juice – you'll need 1 cup of lime juice for your ceviche.

At its core, ceviche is basically fresh seafood steeped in an acidic marinade, most commonly lime or lemon juice. The acid in the citrus forms an extremely low pH condition to denature the fish protein networks, much the same as heating would. This results in the seafood becoming opaque and more firm in texture.

Whatever its provenance, ceviche essentially “cooks” the seafood you are using by denaturing the proteins, as they are by heat, but without the same risk of overcooking. That said, ceviche marinated too long may turn slightly rubbery.

Cover the bowl and set in the fridge until the shrimp is fully pink with no gray or raw parts, 30 minutes to 1 hour. Mix the ceviche: Add the jalapeno, tomatoes, avocado, and cilantro.

Ceviche is a nutritious dish that balances all three macronutrients, which translates to a suitable calorie range. According to health professionals, ceviche may be an effective weight-loss choice. It is low in fat and calories but has a lot of protein.

What does lemon juice do to raw shrimp? ›

When you add acid (lemon juice) to seafood (shrimp), the acid immediately attacks the proteins, producing an effect akin to cooking. It is NOT cooking, but it's similar in effect. If you mix excellent seafood and vegetables and herbs and such with acid, stir, and wait about 30 minutes in the fridge, you have ceviche.

Suffice it to say, the ceviche did not suffer without the Panamanian corvina as the key ingredient—the impromptu frozen shrimp worked out great. (If you're going to do the same, be sure to go for the best quality and biggest shrimp that you can find, and chop it uniformly so that it cooks evenly.)

At its core, Ceviche is as simple as tossing raw fish with lime juice, then leaving it for 5 minutes to let the acid “cook” the fish, making it turn white on the surface, but still raw inside.

Use frozen fish.

It might be tempting to get fresh fish to make your ceviche, but frozen actually comes with less risks. And for ceviche, higher quality is always better. Look for a wild caught and flash frozen white fish, like cod or halibut. You want the texture to be firm and the flavor subtle.

Totally! According to FDA seafood guidelines, shrimp should be cooked until the flesh is firm and clear. But shrimp are so small and fatty, they reach that point from frozen in a matter of a few minutes.

If you need a plan B, frozen shrimp make a great option. They're cheap, easy to use, and nearly always available, plus, fish love them! I recommend rigging them on a jig head with a flat bottom (like these Mission Fishin jig heads) and then retrieving them slowly across the bottom.

Cooking frozen shrimp won't harm you, but the texture won't be as appetising as if you cook from thawed. If time allows, leave your shrimp in the fridge overnight to thaw. Avoid thawing at room temperature, as this also impacts the texture.

According to the FSIS, freezer burn doesn't make food unsafe, but rather it makes it dry in spots which is a quality issue not food safety issue. These dry areas appear as grayish-brown spots and are caused by air coming into contact with the surface of the food.