Shrimp Ceviche lesson

A few posts ago, we told you about the ceviche appetizer we found at a restaurant down the malecon from us and how we were enjoying it so much. Well, our maid, Olga, gave us an informal ceviche lesson this weekend at our condo. She went to the market and picked up fresh shrimp for us and showed us how to prepare it. The ceviche consisted of these ingredients:

1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of fresh shrimp (about 3 inch size)
Juice from about 10 very small limes (found out the large ones are only used here for such things as lemonade – they are much sweeter than the small limes used for ceviche and other Mexican dishes and drinks)
Salt to taste
2 medium diced tomatoes (very red and firm)
½ medium peeled/diced cucumber (cut off ends of cucumber and rub cut end with the end that was cut off – they say it takes the bitterness from the cucumber – remove seeds too.
About ½ cup white onion
Pepper to taste
Peel and devein the shrimp. Cut into 1 inch pieces. Sprinkle salt on shrimp before you add the lime juice – if you don't add salt first the lime will keep the shrimp from absorbing the salt. The shrimp will turn opaque in color after the lime juice is added.Add tomatoes, cucumber and onion. Mix ingredients. Sprinkle with pepper and more salt if needed for taste. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers as an appetizer or can be served as a tostado salad or many other variations too. There are many recipes for ceviche and it can be prepared with other fish such as mahi mahi and chicken too.

It was just delicious. Olga and her 9 year old son, Louis, enjoyed it with us. Here are a couple pictures of Olga and I having fun preparing the ceviche. This will definitely be a dish we will be preparing for our guests. Very easy, healthy and just delicious.