This Easy Shrimp Ceviche Was Made For Too-Hot Summer Days

Delish

While it may seem fancy, ceviche is actually a fairly simple dish at its core, and this Mexican-inspired shrimp ceviche is the perfect place to start.

Transcript

00:00 Hey everyone, it's Tia in the Delish Kitchen, and I'm going to show you how to make shrimp ceviche.

00:06 When it's hot outside, 4 in the afternoon, you want something light and fresh and zingy,

00:13 shrimp ceviche is the way to go.

00:16 You can make ceviche with whatever fish you want, basically,

00:20 except for oily fishes like mackerel or sardines.

00:23 You can do shrimp, you can do tuna, any white fish, good to go.

00:28 The most important thing though, is that whatever you pick has to be super, super fresh.

00:35 Specifically for ceviche, this is very important.

00:37 And, after you bring it home, you want to keep it as cold as possible without freezing it.

00:43 In order for you to keep your seafood as fresh as possible,

00:46 put it in a bowl, and then put that bowl inside another bowl that has ice in it,

00:52 and then put that whole thing in the fridge.

00:54 That's going to keep it super cold and super fresh.

00:57 You can buy shrimp cleaned or uncleaned.

01:00 If you buy them uncleaned, they're actually cheaper,

01:02 and it only takes a couple minutes to devein them.

01:05 Basically, what you're going to do is you're going to, if the tails are not off,

01:09 you're going to pull the tails off, and then you are going to turn the shrimp

01:13 so it's curving like this.

01:15 So, right along the back of the shrimp, you are going to see this grayish line

01:21 that goes all the way down to the back.

01:23 That is the shrimp's intestinal tract.

01:25 You don't want to eat that. We're going to get it out.

01:27 So, the way to do that is to take a sharp paring knife

01:30 and just cut straight along the back, right along that line,

01:34 and then get in there with the tip of your paring knife and just pull it out.

01:38 I like to have a paper towel on hand to just wipe it into, and then you're set.

01:43 Once the shrimp is cleaned, chop into bite-sized pieces.

01:46 We're going to prep the marinade for our ceviche.

01:49 What you put in your marinade is basically up to you,

01:52 as long as it's got lots of citrus.

01:54 The heat is very traditional for ceviche.

01:57 Ceviche always has some form of spicy pepper in it.

02:01 I'm using jalapeno.

02:03 You could use serrano or maybe Thai chili if you wanted a little bit more heat.

02:08 We're going to juice our limes and our orange for the marinade.

02:11 Pro tip, when you are looking for limes, make sure they are smooth and not super bumpy.

02:18 If they're super bumpy, they're not going to be good for juice.

02:21 It should be smooth, and if it has these rough patches on it that are slightly brown,

02:26 that's even better.

02:28 When you are getting ready to juice them,

02:30 rub them with the palm of your hand like this on the countertop,

02:33 and that just gets them all primed to be juiced.

02:37 At this point, we're going to pop our shrimp, our red onion, and our jalapeno

02:44 into our freshly squeezed citrus juice,

02:46 season with a little salt, and pop it into the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes.

02:51 So this is the part where some people get confused.

02:54 They think that the acid in the citrus juice is actually cooking the shrimp.

02:59 It's not.

03:00 It is changing the texture and the flavor of the protein

03:04 so it appears and tastes like it's cooked.

03:08 However much it changes that texture depends on how long you leave it in the citrus.

03:13 So if you leave it in the citrus for 30 minutes,

03:16 it will be quite bouncy and firm and very cooked-looking.

03:25 Some people think that that's too much.

03:27 They don't like that texture.

03:28 I honestly prefer it at about 20 minutes.

03:31 For me, that's about a medium cure on the shrimp.

03:36 While our ceviche is marinating,

03:38 we're going to chop some extra veg and herbs to go in after it's marinated.

03:43 I like to do cucumber, tomato, and a little cilantro.

03:47 Our shrimp has been marinating for 15 minutes.

03:49 It is now white, firm, and opaque.

03:53 It's ready for us to add the rest of our vegetables.

03:56 Add cucumber, tomato, and cilantro, and a little freshly ground black pepper.

04:01 I like to serve my ceviche on a tostada for a nice crunch.

04:05 And if you're feeling fancy, like I am,

04:08 I like to make a little sauce of hot sauce and mayo

04:11 and put that right on top of the tostada with the ceviche.

04:15 Mmm.

04:18 It's light and fresh, the crispiness of the tostada,

04:22 and the creaminess of that sauce.

04:24 I mean, I guess you don't need the sauce, but wow, it's such a great contrast.

04:29 I love the tart zinginess of the ceviche

04:33 and that crunch of the tomato and the cucumber.

04:36 On a hot summer day, this is perfect for eating out on the porch, by the pool,

04:43 anytime you just want a light, quick bite to eat.

04:47 So for this and other summer recipes, stick around at delish.com.

04:51 ♪ [music] ♪

04:54 (upbeat music)

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