CEVICHE/CEBICHE/SEVICHE

After living in Germany for several years, I really came to miss the taste of Latin American cuisine. Black beans, avacados, mole, and yucca were things I had on a very, very rare occasion. A special treat I gave myself when finances allowed, and one of the few things that caused me to miss the U.S. and remember and appreciate the diversity of the country.
Ceviche is a new thing for me.

Though the origins of Ceviche seems to be a disputed one, what I'm sure we can all agree on is the fresh, clean, delicous qualities this dish possesses. There are many different variations of Ceviche, I first tried the Mexican variation of Ceviche from one of the many food trucks in Los Angeles. I have slightly adapted that version below...

1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)

3 lemons

4 limes

1 small cucumber

2 medium tomatos(definitely optional)

1 cup cilantro (chopped)

1 red onion

1 avocado

1 serrano chile pepper
salt and pepper

1. The traditional way to prepare Ceviche is to have the limes and lemons "cook" the shrimp. This calls for a few hours set aside to let the shrimp soak in the juice. To speed up the process, I chose to first drop the shrimp in boiling water for 30 seconds. This gets the cooking started but does not let the shrimp get rubbery.

2. Then I cut up the shrimp into smaller pieces, put them in a bowl and then pour the juice from the lemons and limes over them.

3. Chop the tomatoes, cucumber and onion and mix it in with the shrimp.

4. Next, mince the serrano pepper and add that as well as the cilantro to the shrimp.

5. Salt and pepper to taste and place the bowl in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.

6. Finally, chop up the avocado and mix in.

I usually eat it with Mission brand Tostadas (http://gluten-freebrands.blogspot.com/2009/05/corn-tortilla-chips.html) or just by the spoonful!

Here is a great link for different ceviche recipes.....

http://www.cevicherecipe.org/

Make sure to check out the Peruvian style ceviche, actually, make sure to check out all the comments people left about this recipe. It really shows you how passionate people are about their Ceviche!