Everyone knows ceviche de camarón is an easy recipe but it's always helpful to know the ratio amounts to create the perfect, zesty ceviche! This recipe is perfect for those warm days where turning the stove on is the last thing you want to do. Note: I used fully cooked shrimp in this recipe but it is common to use raw shrimp cooked in lime so I will include how to prepare this recipe both ways. If you try this ceviche, make sure to tag @cocina_xicana on Instagram!
Ingredients:
1 lb. cooked shrimp
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1 large cucumber or 2 small ones
1-2 roma tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1-2 serrano or jalapeño peppers
1/4 C. cilantro
4 limes
Procedure:
Step 1:
Dice your cooked shrimp into small chunks and add your salt, pepper, and juice from 4 juicy limes. You can add more lime juice if you like your ceviche extra limey. Tip: Buying precooked and deveined shrimp saves you so much time when wanting to throw together a quick ceviche - you can get them frozen or thawed from your local grocery store. Instructions for raw shrimp recipe at the end.
Step 2:
Dice up all of your veggies: cucumber (seeds scraped out), tomato (about 1/2-1 C. with seeds scraped out), red onion (about 1/2 C.), serrano or jalapeño, and cilantro. For this recipe, I used 2 serrano peppers because I love my ceviche spicy but you can omit. I prefer serranos over jalapeños because of the floral/citrus notes in the pepper but either one will work - jalapeños tend to be much less spicy. I added a picture to show how much of the pepper vein I took out to achieve a level of spice I was comfortable with. Notice I left a few seeds in there to add that extra kick.
Step 3:
Add your veggies to your shrimp mix, combine, and enjoy! Serve chilled on a tostada or with some chips.. maybe a beer if you are over 21!
Raw Shrimp Cooking Procedure:
Deshell, devein, and dice up your raw shrimp into small chunks. Sprinkle your salt and pepper and add enough lime juice to cover your shrimp. The shrimp will cook with the acidity of the lime. Cover your container and place it in the fridge while your shrimp cooks. I recommend using a wide, shallow container for this but if you are using a bowl, make sure to go in every couple of minutes and mix to ensure your shrimp cooks evenly since lime juice tends to pool up at the bottom of the bowl. For proper food safety, ensure you leave your raw shrimp cooking in the lime juice for AT LEAST 20-30 minutes, as a rule of thumb I leave it for 1 hour. Once cooked, raw shrimp will turn from gray to an orangey-pink color. Proceed to add all of the veggies and mix!