Ceviche is one of those recipes that may require testing it out a few times before you actually being to enjoy it. For me Ceviche is absolutely delicious, especially this Pineapple and Shrimp Ceviche Recipe, but it was not always the case. While it’s not ceviche this story still has to do with raw seafood. In the first few weeks of culinary school, back when I was 18, I tried my first raw oyster. Cocky and full of pride I tried to convince myself that I was going to love it. Well within a nano-second of that slimy, loogie feeling, salty disgustingness I immediately ran over to the large trash can and stuck my head in it and spit it out asap. When I pulled my head out of the trashcan I found 10 laughing roommates telling me that I was missing out on the finer things in life and that I was too young too appreciate it. Maybe they were right? Well fast forward 17 years and I’d eat raw oysters on the half shell everyday of my life if I could. The same goes with ceviche… Kind of. It’s not raw, rather it’s raw seafood that is cooked by being coated in citrus acid like lemons and limes.
The flavor of ceviche can very depending on what you put in it. You can add fresh herbs like cilantro or chervil or even some spices like paprika or cumin. However a ton of flavor can come from the diced of fruit and vegetables that you decide to put in it. I’ve always enjoyed tropical fruits into ceviche, obviously why I made this Pineapple and Shrimp Ceviche Recipe, but you can put in other fruits as well. You could try using mangos, passion fruit, or kiwis in it as well. In addition to delicious fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, peppers are an essential ingredient to ceviche. Some crazy folks like to put habanero peppers while I like to stay along the jalapeño and fresno pepper lines. Yeah, I don’t do spice to well; Never have and probably never will.
While this ceviche recipe calls for shrimp you don’t have to stop there. You can use scallops, white fish or even salmon to really help elevate the flavor of your ceviche. This Pineapple and Shrimp Ceviche Recipe is incredibly versatile and easy to make. It’s delicious when eaten by itself as a cool refreshing appetizer and is ridiculously amazing when added in some tortilla shells to make tacos, like this Shrimp Ceviche Taco Recipe with Cotija Cheese.
Ceviche originated in South America, and is consumed and loved through out all over Latin America. However, it is disputed that both Peru and Ecuador were the original creators of this delicious recipe, especially since they are costal countries with access to tons of fresh seafood. Both eat them in a variety of different ways and with different food items, but the technique remains the same which is fresh seafood cooked in citrus acid. The most common types of citrus acid to use is lemons and limes, but you can absolutely sneak a little orange flavor in there by squeezing in some fresh oranges. At the very least you could actually segment the oranges and put those in there for some nice citrus flavor as well.
My preference is to serve ceviche as an appetizer. It’s easy to make, it’s refreshing with it’s citrusy flavors and it’s got a touch of elegance to it. I mean come on how many seafood appetizers are out there that are low balling? Exactly, there are none. One of my favorite ways to enjoy this Pineapple and Shrimp Ceviche Recipe while serving it up as an appetizer is with tortilla chips and treating it like a salsa. The only problem with this is you’ll eat the whole dang thing because it’s just so addicting. The most traditional way though is to simply serve it cold on a plate. If you do want to make this you want to give yourself at least 4 to 6 hours when preparing it so that it has ample time to cook in the citrus acid. Not sure serving up raw fish would be a good look :-).
If you are a ceviche freak like me then you definitely should try my Ahi Tuna Ceviche with Fried Plantain Chips as well as my Ceviche with Pomegranates and Salmon.
- 1 pound of raw Argentinian pink shrimp, shell removed and deveined
- juice of 5 limes
- 1 small diced jalapeño
- ½ small diced red onion
- 2 small diced vine ripe tomatoes, seeded
- ½ small diced red bell pepper
- 1 cup of small diced fresh pineapple
- ½ cup of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons of lemon infused oil
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- tortilla chips for garnish
- In a large bowl add in raw shrimp and the juice of 4 limes and submerge. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 10 to 20 minutes or until the shrimp is pink and white.
- Once the lime juice acid has cooked the shrimp, remove from the refrigerator and strain the lemon juice. Add the shrimp to a large bowl and toss with, juice of 1 lime, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, peppers, pineapple, cilantro, oil, salt and pepper. Let completely cool in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
- Serve cold alongside tortilla chips.