The One Type Of Fish You Should Never Use For Ceviche

When preparing a coconut-lime shrimp ceviche recipe to serve on a hot day, you may be particularly concerned about food safety. Though ceviche isn't served completely raw — it is "cooked" or cured in salt and some kind of acid, like lime juice, before being plated on dishes — ceviche recipes aren't the time to start cutting corners when it comes to using fresh, quality ingredients in your kitchen. As straightforward as a classic ceviche recipe might be, there's one flaw that can destroy your meal-making attempts: Using the wrong kind of fish. 

Surveying the many choices at your local fishmonger can be overwhelming, however, so focus on the type of fish you're looking to buy. If you can remember nothing else when shopping, stay away from any kind of freshwater species. Unlike fresh fish taken from cold ocean waters, freshwater fish often carry parasites, and since you're preparing a dish that won't be cooked with heat, you need to be aware of this risky move.

While some fish species like cod and monkfish are known to be parasitic, sushi-grade white fish, like snapper, sea bass, and mahi mahi (as long as they are ocean fish rather than derived from freshwater estuaries) are ideal to toss with a marinade of lime juice and rice vinegar, which is the secret ingredient for classic ceviche. Doing this, you'll have a balanced dish with just the right amount of sweetness to offer dinner guests. Additionally, while handling any kind of raw fish, put on some gloves during meal prep. Your hands have the potential of bringing bacteria to the chunks of raw fish you are preparing, which, again — since you not are cooking the food with high temperatures — won't be killed off, no matter how long you leave your fish to bathe in an acidic marinade.

Once you have the right ocean-water fish selected and prepared for your ceviche dish, simple seasoning made with cilantro and salt, fresh veggies like cucumber and red onion, and a bit of jalapeño for some kick can help you put together a fresh crab ceviche recipe that can be presented with tortilla chips, plantain chips, such as Iberia Saladito Lightly Salted Plantain Chips, or fried plantains for a satisfying and safe meal.