Ceviche
Fresh white fish "cooked" entirely by lime juice, tossed with red onion, chilli and coriander, and served cold — no stove involved anywhere in the process.
About this dish
Ceviche's origins are Peruvian and older than the lime itself getting there — coastal cultures were curing raw fish in fermented local fruit juices for centuries before Spanish colonization brought citrus to South America, and lime simply did the job better once it arrived. What lime juice actually does to the fish is not cooking in the heat sense at all; the acid denatures the proteins the same way heat would, turning the flesh opaque and firm, which is why ceviche genuinely earns the word "cooked" in quotes rather than needing an asterisk.
- Gluten-free
- Lactose-free
- Not vegetarian because of Firm white fish fillets
Ingredients
- 500gFirm white fish fillets
- 200mlLime juice
- 100gRed onion
- 10gFresh red chilli
- 6gFine sea salt
- 15gFresh coriander
- 100gTinned sweetcorn
Instructions
Cut the fish into small, even cubes.
10 minTip: Use the freshest fish you can find, ideally bought the same day — nothing here masks a tired fillet the way cooking would, since the whole dish is built on how clean the raw fish tastes to begin with.
Combine the fish with the lime juice, sliced red onion, chilli and salt in a non-reactive bowl.
5 minTip: Use a glass or ceramic bowl rather than a bare metal one — the citrus can react with some metals and pick up a faintly metallic taste over the marinating time.
Let it marinate in the fridge until the fish turns opaque all the way through, about 10 minutes for a delicate fish.
10 minTip: Watch the clock rather than guessing — a few minutes too long and the acid keeps working past "cooked" into genuinely tough and rubbery, since there's no heat here to plateau the way it would in a pan.
Stir in the chopped coriander and sweetcorn, and serve immediately, cold, with some of the marinating liquid spooned over.
3 minTip: That reserved marinating liquid is what Peruvians call leche de tigre — serve some of it alongside rather than draining it all away, since it's the most concentrated part of the dish.