Shrimp "Ceviche" (03/01/09) - A Solid First Swing

As I mentioned in my Las Canteras post, a trip to this Peruvian restaurant had made me curious about creating my own ceviche. I'd actually been wanting to try this ever since I saw Alton Brown's AWESOME show on this subject, but I'd yet to have the acute motivation.

Pronounced "seh-beach-ay" because, for some reason, Spanish speakers have always had something against the letter "v," the basic idea is a citrus-marinated fish or shellfish dish. In the most traditional (and best, by far) ceviches, the fish is "cooked" via the acid of a lime. So we're not talking raw fish, here. It just isn't cooked over heat.

I decided to go pretty simple in my first attempt and do a shrimp ceviche. Overall, I think it went pretty well. The flavors were fantastic, though, how can you really mess us with avocado, tomato, lime, lemon, peppers, onion and shrimp? I admit it, however. I wussed out. I gently poached the shrimp before putting it in the lime and lemon juice to marinate. Still, in the end, it really tasted lovely. It was really simple and something that I think I'll definitely be doing again. Next time, though, SOMETHING is going to be raw. (I mean, cooked in acid!)

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 avocados, diced
2 vine tomatoes, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced white onion (though red would probably be better)
2 tbs cilantro
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper

Directions:
- Boil a pot of water. When the water boils, turn off the heat and dump in the shrimp. Allow shrimp to sit for 2 minutes and then remove. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Mix the shrimp, onion and juices together in a nonreactive bowl and set in the refridgerator to cool for 1 hour
- Remove, add the rest of the vegetables, toss, allow to come to room temp and serve