The first recipe I am sharing with you all in this new (and hopefully improved) year is an easy one! You could say it is as easy as it is delicious – Shrimp Ceviche. Ever since I started making this, I cannot stop. I think I’ve made this 4x this month, and after having finally perfected my recipe, I am ready to share it with all of you. I know this is more of a summer dish, but with some people trying to eat healthy in the New Year, I think this is the perfect “salad” recipe to share with you all. If you are unfamiliar with ceviche it is typically made with raw fish that cooks in the citrus fruits added. With this shrimp recipe however, it is best to pre-cook the shrimp, that way you don’t have to worry about eating raw shrimp. I was inspired by a friend of mine who always brings a delicious ceviche to parties, and so I created this dish based on her recipe. I absolutely love the freshness of the citrus and vegetables in this dish, they perfectly compliment the shrimp. If you would like a video tutorial of me making this Ceviche you can watch that HERE. So without talking too much, let’s get started!
Ingredients:
900g Shrimp (50 to 70)
1 large Cucumber
6 medium Tomatoes (about 6 to 8 depending on size)
1 medium/small Red Onion
3 Jalapeños *Optional, you can even add more or less
1 bunch of Cilantro (about a handful)
3 Limes
2 Lemons
1 Orange
1+1/2 tsp Salt (or add to taste)
A few Shakes of Tajin *Optional
Instructions:
I use raw, frozen, already peeled and deveined shrimps. Since we are cooking the shrimps in this recipe, you can buy already cooked shrimp, and defrost it yourself. If you have a really good quality shrimp, feel free to use the raw shrimps and marinate for 48 hours. Since we do not always have access to very fresh shrimp, I like to use the frozen shrimp and defrost, and cook the shrimp at the same time, so here is what I do:
Take the frozen shrimp, and place in a large pot, and fill with water. Place on a medium to high heat on the stovetop and cook just until it comes to a boil, or you see the shrimp change colours from bluish to pink. Careful not to over-cook your shrimp. I then drain the water, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set a side until needed…
Now we can prepare the fruits and vegetables. Be sure to wash and dry all of the ingredients.
Peel 1 large cucumber, and cut in half, scooping out the inner seeds and discarding them. Then dice the pieces to small chunks, keeping them uniform in size. Add the cucumber to a large bowl. We will do the same to the tomatoes, cutting and removing the seeds. We do this to take away the access juices, as we are adding our own liquid to this recipe later. I used 6 of these brown heirloom tomatoes, but you can use your choice of tomato. Discard the seeds, or tomato caviar, and chop the tomato to the same size as the cucumber. Add the tomato to the large bowl with the cucumber.
Next, peel and chop 1 medium red onion, dice the onions a little finer than the cucumber and tomato, and add it to the same large bowl.
Put on kitchen gloves and slice the jalapeños. Always be sure to use gloves or your hands will burn after (I learned this the hard way)! I slice them in half, remove the seeds, then cut into long strips and then dice them. They should be the same size as the onion, so nice tiny pieces. If you find 3 jalapeños to be too spicy, you can add only 1 or 2, or omit this altogether, but I find they add a nice little hint of spice.
Take one bunch of cilantros, and remove the stems and then finely chop it. I like to really mince this herb up. You will use about a large handful or as much or as little as you like. Many people either LOVE or hate cilantro. I love it, as I feel it adds such a lovely freshness to this recipe, but feel free to replace it with a bit of parsley, or omit it altogether.
Finally, we can add our drained and cooked shrimp to this bowl of vegetables, and then we will be adding all of the citrus. Simply cut the orange, lemons, and limes in half, and add the juices to this large bowl of shrimps and vegetables. I use a citrus juicer that you can shop for on Amazon Canada HERE or Amazon USA HERE. It is so helpful, and easily a favourite kitchen tool, but if you don’t have this, use your hands and squeeze all the juice out.
Lastly, add the salt, I find 1 + 1/2 tsp to be perfect, but salt to your taste. You can always add more salt, so use a light hand at first. If you skipped the jalapeños, feel free to add pepper. You can also add Tajin at this point which you can buy on Amazon Canada HERE, Amazon USA HERE. It is a spice made with limes, salt, and spices. It is totally optional, but adds a little something extra.
Give everything a mix to incorporate all of the jucies, vegetables, seasoning, and of course shrimp. This looks like a gorgeous dish at this point, and since the shrimp is cooked you can even serve it right away. However, I recommend a few hours in the fridge, even 24 hours is fine, so you can make this the night before. I like the shrimp to really marinate in the juices, so about 4 hours covered in the fridge is a good time.
Like revenge, this is a dish best served cold! I find it lovely served in martini glasses, or these champagne coups I used here.
How easy was that?! You now have a lovely Shrimp Ceviche to eat and enjoy. You can serve this with crackers or tortilla chips, or simply eat as is. It is the perfect appetizer, or even accompanied with a main dish. However you eat this, you will love this! It never lasts 24 hours in my house, so I am so happy to share this delicious recipe with all of you! It is so fresh, and packed full of flavour, you’ll forget it’s healthy too!
Thanks so much for being here, and if you would like to see me make this dish, you can find it HERE.
xo Love: Lisa (@ladolcelisa)
https://youtu.be/wMaTE3D9dg8
ladolcelisa 