Low Carb Seafood Ceviche. Pronounced sa vee chay or sa vee chee and even sa-beachy. No matter how you pronounce it, this is a really good, clean, fresh food. Every time I see ceviche on a menu, which is not all that often, I order it and it is never the same twice as so many different combinations of seafood can be used. Food lore says it originally came from Spain to Ecuador or Peru but from wherever, as I said, it is really good.
It is most often made with shrimp but I am using more than several different seafoods here because when I was visiting my brother in NC we ate in a restaurant that served it this way…and this is as close to that recipe as I can get. The secrets to making a good low carb seafood ceviche are: Cutting the seafood pieces pretty close to the same size, not letting it “cook” in the marinade any longer that 30 minutes as it will turn the seafood either rubbery (the shrimp) or mushy, (the fish) and blending in the vegetables just before serving. And please, if you are going to go to the cost and trouble of making this with anything other than shrimp, which works quite well, buy fresh fish and make the dish the same day if possible. One of the reasons I like using a little crab in my cerviche is its ability to help bind everything together but…so does the avocado as you see in the picture. You can see my now famous 30 yr. old tuna can (PVC pipe works well too) for my molding and anyway you present it is OK. A little Crème Fraîche would be good as well and if coconut cream trips any triggers you would like Fijian Ceviche as well.
You are going to get a great mixture of not only flavors but also textures. The wonderful feel of firmed fish and the crunch of vegetables. This can be a complete meal if desired and I have given the nutritionals as an appetizer and dinner. This is a picture of low carb seafood ceviche served as soup and eaten with a spoon. Directions for the soup are in the notes below.
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- ¼ Lb. Each Halibut, Shrimp, Large Scallops, & Crab (Your Crab Will Already Be Cooked)
- ½ C Lime Juice
- 1 Small Avocado Cubed Into ½” Pieces
- 1 Small Jalapeno Diced Very Small
- ½ Small Diced Tomato (I Use Regular Tomatoes Because I Like The Bit Of Juice I Get)
- ½ C Seeded Cucumber Diced Small
- ½ C Small Diced Orange Pepper
- ¼ C Small Diced Purple Onion
- ¼ C Celery
- ¼ C Minced Green Onion Tops
- 2 T Very Finely Chopped Cilantro
- 1 T Olive Oil
- 1 Lemon (Wedged And Served To The Side)
- Salt & Pepper
- Cut halibut into ½” cubes, depending on size cut shrimp into 3 or 4 sections and quarter the scallops. The idea is to have all seafood close to the same size and vegetables a bit smaller.
- Put seafood into glass or stainless bowl, mix in lime juice and let sit 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Drain lime juice unless making the soup version.
- Meanwhile cut all vegetables, ending with avocado and put into another bowl. Add Crab, olive oil and blend.
- Mix vegetables into seafood and let sit 5 minutes. Taste and salt & pepper as wanted.
- Divide mixture into 8 equal portions. If using a mold placed on serving dish and making sure the lime juice has been left in the bowl and mold it pressing down firmly. Gently lift the ring off and go on to the next one.
- If serving in some kind of glass container it is not necessary to drain lime juice and a martini glass makes a very nice presentation as does any bed of lettuce.
- Serve with a wedge of lemon.
- 8 Servings as an appetizer
- 101 Calories, 11.25g Protein, 4.2g Fat, 3.1g Carbs, 1.2g Fiber, 1.9g Net Carbs
- 4 Servings as an entrée
- 202 Calories, 22.5g Protein, 6.4g g Fat, 6.1g Carbs, 2.4g Fiber, 3.7g Net Carbs
- If you want to serve this in a cocktail glass you do not need to drain the liquid. If molding, the way I did it, it needs to be drained so the ingredients will “stick” together and hold their form. Some places even serve this quite soup-like as a good hangover cure. That’s probably on a beach someplace where it’s party time any time. If you decide to make this as a soup, (see picture) you can skip the jalapeno and add spicy tomato juice to it or...leave in the jalapeno and add some diced or crushed tomatoes...or put half of the vegetables in your blender and puree to desired consistency.
- If you’re feeling a bit frisky you can add a few squid rings too.
- Crab is NOT marinated in the citrus. I used Dungeness crab as it is what’s abundant here in the Pacific NW. Good quality canned crab is fine and just be sure to drain it.
- If you like the flavor of orange with seafood but do not want to use orange juice as the acid add ¼ t orange extract to lime juice.
- I have had Ceviche with garlic in it and didn’t like it. If I am going to eat the expensive ingredients in this dish I want to be able to taste them.