Panamanian Ceviche Recipe

This ceviche recipe is for people who love all the things sour!  I love sour and acid flavors and the reason why I emphasize this is because the day I made a ceviche similar to this one for my ex-boss (Chef Andy), he almost passed out.

He said, “JC, what #%^%$^ ^@^%%##@? Are you trying to kill me?” or something along those lines. I mean his face was as if he had tasted the most acid thing in his life.  I felt so bad I almost cried.  I shared the same ceviche with my Panamanian relatives and they loved the ceviche. So either they love me so much that they didn’t dare to say that I overdid the lime juice, or my folks have a love for all the things sour like I do too.

I added grapefruit because I’ve been so lucky to find very juicy and flavorful ones, so this was a nice fruit to add to my ceviche.  We don’t serve it like that in Panama, but just like every recipe, nothing wrong with adding a few kicks in here and there. I served this ceviche with cajun fried yuca, and slices of avocado.  Fry the yuca as you usually would and add salt and cajun spices right away you get them out of the frying pan.

Now you know it, I love lime, lemons and every single citrus fruit available.  Either way, you’ve been warned, I love lime juice and this ceviche will make your face go like this ————–>

Panamanian Fish Ceviche with Grapefruit
Serves 3-4 – Prep Time: 20 mins plus 24 hours marinating

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh fish fillets (I used sole, but you could use red snapper, rockfish, cod, seabass, etc)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp culantro, chopped (if you can’t find it use cilantro)
1 habanero pepper, chopped (use half if you don’t like too much heat)
1/4 cup celery, diced
1/2 tsp of garlic, chopped
1/2 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
1/2 grape fruit, segmented
Salt

Directions
-  Cut the fish into equal bite size pieces and place in a large glass bowl
-  Add the onions, habanero, celery, culantro and mix well with fish and lime juice
-  Place bowl in refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
-  Serve on a bowl with the grapefruit, salt to taste and fried yuca (I also love to serve it with crackers or fried green plantains).

NOTE:
-  The ceviche can be marinated for less time but the one that I grew up eating and that I prefer is usually marinated more then 12 hours so it will look pretty cooked in compare to a ceviche that’s been marinated in lime juice for 45 minutes.  It’s a matter of preference.
-  How To Make The Perfect Ceviche And Common Mistakes To Avoid (click here)

¡a comer!