Food and Drink

Secret Family Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

31 December 2014

Santiago, our man on the ground out in Ecuador, has shared his mothers' secret shrimp ceviche recipe. Follow this recipe and you'll be sure to impress with this Ecuadorian classic dish.

Prep: 1 hour
Serve: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Recipe serves: 8

Ingredients

2 pounds of shrimps (approx. US$36)
2 pints of water
1 red onion
3 cilantro (coriander) stems
2 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
6 peppercorns
1/2 green bell pepper
6 large tomatoes
3 oranges
4 lemons
10 flat-leaf parsley
olive oil
salt

Instructions

In a large pot put the water, red onion in pieces, bay leaves, garlic, cilantro, bell pepper, pepper corns and salt, once the water is boiling add the shrimps previously washed but not peeled, move once or twice so that all the shrimp gets cooked. When the shrimp turns pink put the pot through a strainer, saving the water. Pick up all the shrimp and discard the rest. Once the shrimp and water are cool, peel and de vein the shrimp rinsing in the water that was cooked. Save 1 cup of the water for the juice.
Take the tomatoes and put them in the hot water so that you can peel them easier, strain them in a bowl adding the orange juice and juice of two lemons, if this mixture is more like a puré, then add some of the cup of water that was saved, taste for salt and add freshly ground black pepper. (At this stage is usually left overnight in the fridge.)
Next day take half of a red onion and cut it in very thin slices, put this in an small bowl, add 1 teaspoon of salt and the juice of two lemons, with your fingers rub the onion slices so that they get tender, as they are very salty and sour, rinse them with cold water, but leaving them with taste of lemon and salt, add this to the bowl with the shrimp, pour some olive oil, chop 10 flat-leaves parsley very fine and add them too.