This salmon ceviche dish is a favorite in our home. It’s basically a salad with some sort of seafood and a lemon dressing. So easy to make and a versatile way to use up whatever you have left in the fridge. In this recipe, I use salmon and mango which go together amazingly well but you can use the same principle to come up with dozens of different ceviches. It can be a whole meal: filling and satisfying without being too heavy, or as part of a bigger meal as a light refreshing appetizer.
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The secret to good ceviche:
The most important thing in making ceviche is the balance of acid (lemon or lime juice) and salt. Many times I order ceviche in a restaurant only to be disappointed it wasn’t seasoned well (this is why I always carry a little salt shaker with me). The whole point of ceviche is that perfect balance that makes your mouth zang (is this a word?). When a ceviche is good, you’d want to be drinking the liquid that’s left on the plate. This is what’s called by Peruvians Leche de Tigre (“tiger milk”), which is the citrus and salt marinade that ceviche is cured in.
So to make sure the balance is there you have to taste, correct the acid and salt, taste again, correct again and so on until you can taste that it’s balanced. Trust your taste buds and don’t be afraid to add more salt little by little and gradually. How do you know you’re there? It’s one of these things that when you taste it – you’ll know it. It just feels right. No recipe can give you an exact proportion, but you can start with the proportions in the recipe, taste it, and go from there.
A simple trick to cure the salmon
When using raw fish, it’s always a good idea to marinate, or dry cure the fish in salt for as little as 30 minutes if you have the time. The reason is that by doing that you drain some of the excess liquids, make the fish flavor more intense, and get rid of any bacteria that grew on the surface of the fish. Just sprinkle kosher salt (my favorite for this is crystal diamond salt), on both sides of the cleaned fish fillet (the whole fillet, don’t cut it into chunks yet), put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
During this time you can chop all the ingredients for the ceviche. By the time you’re done with all the chopping, take the fish out of the fridge, run it through a gentle stream of cold water until you get rid of the salt, and then tap it dry with a clean paper towel. Now your fish is ready to be cubed and added to the recipe. You can also do that ahead of time and keep the fish dried in a closed container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it, even a day ahead.
Variations for ceviche:
Ceviche at its core is dish of cured seafood: seafood+salt+citrus. If the core is good, the ceviche will be good.
Seafood
It can be shrimp, prawn, salmon, seabass, cod, scallops, octopus or a mix of some of these. Always better to use a fresh seafood but you can also use the cooked
Salt
Any salt will do but I prefer to use Crystal Diamond brand for this, as it’s flaky and less salty. You need a bit more of it but it’s easier to control without overdoing. Don’t use salt that’s too coarse or the flakes will melt slowly and throw the seasoning off balance while it sits. Finishing salt is also a good idea or a flavored salt like smoky salt can be interesting to use.
Citrus
Lime or lemon is the classic ceviche citrus, but feel free to combine with another citrus-like yuzu, orange, tangerine, finger lime, etc. If you use sweet citrus make sure to mix it with more acidic citrus so that you reach the right kick.
Spice
If you like it spicy (as I do), add some hot sauce, like tabasco, or chopped chilis (like jalapenos, serrano or habanero), horseradish, mustard or wasabi even (think about wasabi peas for example).
Vegetables
Almost any vegetable can work here. Start with the basic: some sort of onion. Red onion is classic but green onion or sweet onion is great too. Make sure to slice it as thin as you can.
You can keep it as simple as 4 ingredients: red onion, fish, lemon, salt. Or you can add some more vegetables to make this more of a salad: radish, tomato, cucumber, celery, bell pepper, avocado, jicama, cabbage, herbs: cilantro, chives, parsley. Forget about the leafy greens – they will wilt too quickly.
Make it extra
In this recipe, I used cubed mango, but I also made it again using a yellow peach and it turned up great! Some other ideas are: apricot, pomegranate, apple, orange, coconut milk, ginger, pineapple…
A crunch to serve
It’s great to be able to serve it with something crunchy to balance the texture. Corn tortilla chips is very popular in the US but in peru it’s usually served with crispy corn and cooked corn. It’s sometimes served with a cooked starchy vegetable like sweet potato. Serve it on tostadas, with spiced popcorn, edamame, on a rice cracker etc.
How long is ceviche good for?
Ceviche is best eaten the same day, but you can eat it up to 2-3 days after preparing, keeping it refrigerated.
Mango Salmon Ceviche
This dish is a favorite in our home. It’s basically a salad with some sort of seafood and a lemon dressing. So easy to make and a versatile way to use up whatever you have left in the fridge. In this recipe, I use salmon and mango which go together amazingly well but you can use the same principle to come up with dozens of different ceviche. It can be a whole meal: filling and satisfying without being too heavy, or as part of a bigger meal as a light refreshing appetizer.
Ingredients
- 2 celery sticks
- ½ red onion
- 10 cherry tomatoes (or 1-2 medium-sized tomatoes)
- ½ cucumber
- 1 ripe mango
- 10 oz fresh raw salmon
- Kosher salt
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- ½ bunch of cilantro
- Hot sauce (like tabasco) - optional
To serve:
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
- Start by marinating the fish: 30-60 minutes ahead of time, debone and clean the salmon filet of skin. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and seal in an airtight container in the fridge. After 30-60 minutes of marinating time, rinse the fish with a gentle stream of cold water and tap lightly with a paper towel to dry.
- Cut all the vegetables: cube the celery, the tomatoes, cucumber and mango to approximately the same size. Chop the onion finely. Mix it all in a mixing bowl. Feel free to mix it up with other vegetables like scallions, bell peppers, radish, corn or whatever is available.
- Cut the Salmon to little cubes and add it to the vegetables. Chop the cilantro finely, toss everything together and season with the zest and juice of 1 lemon, 1-2 tbsp of good quality olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
- Taste to correct seasoning. This is the most critical part - the result should be a good balance between the acidity and the salt. Don't be afraid to add more of both, until it feels right. Drizzle with a little bit of hot sauce, toss together and taste again.
- Serve in a big plate with tortilla chips.
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Did you get in the mood for some ceviche? Tell me what’s your favorite ingredient in your ceviche. Do you like the traditional Peruvian ceviche or a twist on the classic?