A common meal called ceviche is produced by macerating raw fish and seafood with other ingredients including chiles, onions, and herbs in an acidic liquid like citrus juice. Furthermore, the acid in the marinade denatures the fish’s proteins, turning them opaque and giving the fish a crisp, flaky texture that resembles that of heat-cooked food. If you want to try this is in Hong Kong, you must visit Mexican restaurant & Bar, La Vista.
Quick facts
Macerating raw fish and seafood with citrus juice is common practice.
widely used in Central and South America
frequently contains chilies and onions
Fish, shellfish, and shrimp can all be used to make this dish.
Describe ceviche
The term “ceviche” (pronounced “seh-VEE-chay”) describes both the food and the preparation technique. Moreover, the word is spelled differently in many parts of South and Central America, with seviche or cebiche being some of the more prevalent alternatives. And every nation adds its own touch to the dish. Whether it’s through the use of various fish or seafood or the kinds of spices used to make the marinade.
Ceviche prepares with macerating chunks or slices of raw fish, shellfish, or shrimp in an acidic marinade. This typically contains citrus juice, most commonly lime or lemon but sometimes occasionally bitter orange or other locally grown citrus fruits.
The acid in the marinade alters the proteins’ appearance and texture, which is how it works. Long chains of amino acids make up the proteins in fish and seafood. When exposed to acid, these chains split apart and arrange themselves in various ways, creating new bonds with nearby proteins. The process of heating food to a high temperature is the most popular way to “denaturize” proteins.
Even though heat is not used, fish undergoes some of the same changes as when it is cooked conventionally, such as colour change, turning opaque from transparent, and harder and flakier texture. Accordingly, even though the colour and texture have changed, the fish or shellfish still has a fresh, raw flavour. Contrary to cooking, this does not involve heating food.
When proteins are denatured, they also release water, and in the case of ceviche, this results in the release of the fish’s natural juices, which combine with the citrus juice and other ingredients to create a sort of extraordinarily flavorful broth.
Varieties
Latin America as a whole enjoys eating ceviche. Here are a few of the most popular kinds along with the countries where they were first discovered. Whereas you can enjoy ceviche at La Vista, Mexican restaurant & Bar in Hong Kong.
Ceviche from Peru: Traditionally, ceviche from Peru is made with sea bass, lime juice, onions, chiles, roasted sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob.
Ceviche from Ecuador: In this form, shrimp will marinate in a tomato-based sauce with lime juice, bitter orange juice, and salt. Along with the dish, toasted maize kernels that resemble popcorn are also common.
Mexican Ceviche: Served with tortilla chips, Mexican ceviche, a traditional dish, it prepares with fish such as mahi-mahi, tilapia, sea bass, red snapper, scallops, and shrimp. These are all marinated in lime juice with other ingredients like tomatoes, onions, cilantro, tomatillos, avocados, olives, and cucumbers.
Making a Ceviche
The freshest fish and seafood that you can locate are used to make ceviche. Since cooking effectively kills the bacteria that cause food poisoning, marinating in acid does not. This happens for both flavors and food safety reasons.
Then, cut or dice your fish and seafood into little pieces or slices to increase the surface area on which the acid can affect. One of the steps in the process is getting the parts down to a reasonable size. Fish that has been marinated for too long may develop a gritty texture and eventually disintegrate. Beyond 30 minutes, you typically run the risk of overcooking it. Therefore, you want your pieces to be small enough that after 15 to 20 minutes, the centre will still be translucent while the outer portions are firm and opaque. That’s about 1/4 of an inch, correct?
You can usually prepare Ceviche with seafood including shrimp, scallops, squid, and octopus. Apart from it, you can cook it with fish like snapper, sea bass, halibut, mahi-mahi, and tilapia. Furthermore, other items frequently used in recipes include passion fruit, coconut milk, celery, mango, onions, chilies, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, corn, and sweet potatoes.
Finally, when the seafood is in your ceviche you will get to your satisfaction. Moreover, you must immediately serve it. Even in the refrigerator, storing it for later won’t work because the acids will keep working no matter how long you leave it.
Here are a few examples of classic ceviche recipes from Classic Peruvian Ceviche
Mexican Shrimp Ceviche
Ecuadorian Shrimp Ceviche
Storage
You might wonder what to do with any leftover ceviche you might happen to have. Can you store it? Freeze it? Unfortunately, the answer is no, for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, marinating in acid does not kill the bacteria that cause spoilage or food poisoning the way that cooking with heat does. This means that simply storing your leftover ceviche in the fridge will allow those bacteria to continue to multiply. Secondly, the acids in the marinade will continue to denature the proteins in the fish. So, within a few hours the fish will be dry, chalky and falling apart. Your best bet, then, is to make sure you do not prepare more ceviche than you can finish in a single sitting. You can taste ceviche at any Mexican restaurant for instance La Vista in Hong Kong.
