Recipe
Sweet N' Spicy Rockfish Ceviche
Ceviche is a super quick and easy way to WOW your guests at any party or even just a simple and healthy lunch for one. Pacific Rockfish are one of the best types of fish to use for ceviche. Their lean, white meat will absorb any of the delicious flavors you choose to mix in, creating a spectacular combo of citrus and seafood!
Ceviche originally is a dish from Peru, where a fisherman decided to mix their fish with lime juice and a variety of local veggies and seasonings. After realizing the genius of this super simple dish, many Latin American countries have since adopted their own rendition of ceviche utilizing their country's native fruits and vegetables — some countries even incorporate different types of milk for a creamier finish!
This ceviche recipe is a take on one of the first dishes I made with fish I had caught here in California. I had just went spearfishing for the first time and I had caught a few ocean Surf Perch. I was totally stoked to have caught my first fish on spear, but they were pretty small to be honest. I knew that cooking the tiny fish might have been a tall feat so after doing some online digging, I saw that a common and easy dish for spearos was to make ceviche. I went over to the grocery store and picked up some bottled lime juice, red onion, and cilantro. I made a crude version of ceviche, but even with my limited experience and knowledge, I thought it tasted incredible and ate every last bite. Looking back on it, I can confidently say that it only tasted that good because of my excitement having just caught the fish, however it did open up the world of cooking what I caught, and I knew I could improve my ceviche recipe. After years of diving, fishing, and fine tuning my ceviche recipes, I finally found a delicious recipe that is the perfect blend of citrus, sweet, and a little bit of heat.
Ceviche has endless variations based on your likes and dislikes, but the recipe below is still one of my go-to's. Try it out, and if it's not quite what you're looking for then I encourage you to play around with the ingredients and see what you think tastes best!
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pacific Rockfish
- 1 Tbsp coarse Kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 9 limes
- 1 red onion
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1 mango
- 2 habaneros (use less if sensitive to spice)
- 1 clove garlic
Directions
- 1
Fish
Cut the fish into small pieces — about 1/2 inch bits, but you can cut smaller.
- 2
"Cooking"
Place the cut fish into a bowl and squeeze in the juice of 7 limes. Shake or stir so that all pieces of fish are covered in the lime juice. Place the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes so the fish can "cook" in the lime juice.
- 3
Veggies & Fruit
While the fish is in the fridge, dice the red onion, chop the cilantro, cut the mango into about the same size chunks as the fish, use a grater to microplane the garlic (or cut paper-thin), and mince the habanero into very small pieces.
- 4
Optional
The habaneros will bring a lot of heat to the dish. If you're sensitive to spice but still want some kick, try only using 1 habanero or a different chile like serrano or jalapeño.
- 5
Straining
Pull the fish out of the fridge and strain out any excess lime juice. It will look slightly cloudy — this will eliminate any leftover fishy flavor.
- 6
Bringing It All Together
In a large bowl, combine fish and all the veggies and fruits. Squeeze in the juice of the last 2 limes, add the salt and pepper, and stir together until evenly mixed.
- 7
Enjoy
Serve chilled with tortilla chips or as is!
It's as simple as that. All of those flavors should meld into one delicious masterpiece. Ceviche has a ton of variations so if this was not your favorite, don't give up on ceviche quite yet — try your own flavor combinations. It's great with rockfish, but also with many other lean white fish.
Please take pictures of your final ceviche creations and post them. Tag us @bellowsspearandreel — we'd love to see your culinary creativity!
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