Salmon Ceviche
I think I spent a solid 10 minutes telling someone all the reasons I hated salmon this past weekend. That flakey texture and definite fishy taste just makes me want to hurl a little bit everyone it’s placed in front of me. Like it gives me heart palpatations to think about going to someone’s house for dinner and salmon is what was on the menu. Baked, grilled, broiled or whatever - I’d just die. Jordan has brought home fresh Alaskan caught salmon, made me gourmet meals with it, and each time I’ve hated it. Like I try & try again, and I know it’s this popular thing people really love, but I just can’t with it. The only time I’ve actually enjoyed it is sushi style - so raw as f*ck. & I saw a recipe for salmon ceviche with mango and avocado, and damn did it look so good. So I gave it a go, made my own version of Salmon Ceviche by adding in my favorite veggies & fruits, & I have officially found my means to enjoying salmon prepared at home.
Ceviche is great for so many reasons. The first of which is like no actual cooking is involved. You can kind of just toss the ingredients in a bowl, let them do their thing, and enjoy several hours later. The fish cooks in the lime juice, and that is the part that takes a bit of time. Like it needs to just sit in lime juice for 8 hours, so you need to plan accordingly if you’re going to eat this for dinner tonight. I was in the my kitchen cutting salmon and getting the cooking process going at like 10am, and went about my day of yardwork and house chores. Big picture - you’ll essentially screw yourself if you start cooking at 5pm in hopes of making this your evening meal. It don’t work like that, but the prep needing to be done is easy-peasy.
Ceviche is also one of those things that’s light and bright, and just tastes like summer. It’s served ice cold, and just feels so refreshing. & lord knows I love a finger-food dinner where I can customize each and every chip & dip bite, and ceviche is like healthy nachos which heavily appeals to my husbands nacho loving soul. I happened to have wonton wrappers in my fridge, and when fried up they really are the perfect chip for ceviche. But you can totally buy tortilla chips for an easy substitute which will help you to avoid any actual cooking.
Even when I make nachos at home, I love having something green on the plate. & ceviche is no different! Pairing the prepared ceviche with a crunchy green just adds another bit of freshness to the whole thing. I love the micro-greens as a garnish when I’m looking for something a little more hearty than herbs, and they tasted so great with the fish for this meal. We also served ours with a little drizzle of sweet chili sauce. Totally not needed, but just a fun accoutrement that tastes so yummy with the avocado and mango, and it helps to change up a few of your bites.
I am the biggest advocate for making a recipe your own. Like if you look at a recipe, and you have an epiphony, whether it is using a different meat or somehow making it meatless, you should absolutely go for it. Use YOUR favorite ingredients and tailor the whole thing to how YOU want to eat it. Ceviche is one of those things that is so easily customizable, & YOU should experiment. Even my brain is swirling for how I want to make this next time - like adding in minced jalapenos or red pepper would be so tasty. Or even using papaya instead of mango would be fun for summer. You should also not freak out if you don’t have exactly what I have. If you are short one lime & need to use lemon instead, or get a larger cut of salmon than I did, that’s ok. & truth be told I think the piece of salmon I used measured like .81 lb. Just go for it, do your own thing, and just use enough lime juice & protect the cook time to make sure no one gets sick from truly raw salmon.
For the Ceviche
.75 lb of salmon, skin removed and diced into bitesize cubes)
1 1/4 cup lime juice (I used about 9 fresh limes)
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 mango
1 avocado
1/4 of a red onion
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt & pepper
Wonton wrappers (I used only about 4 large wrappers)
2 c. canola oil
Sesame Seed
Micro-greens or sprouts of somekind
Sweet Chili Sauce (for serving)
The first step is to start “cooking” the salmon in lime juice. Place the diced up salmon in a large bowl, and add in 1 cup of lime juice. I squeezed in about 6 limes. Essentially, you just want the lime juice to totally cover the fish. Once completed cover the container and let it sit in the fridge for 6-8 hours.
Once that first leg of cook time is up, drain the lime juice from the salmon. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar & oil. Add this mixture back to the salmon, stir, cover, and place the bowl back in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
While the salmon continues to marinate, get your wonton wrappers fried up. Place about 1 1/2 cups of canola in a large skillet (one your comfortable frying in) over medium high heat, letting it heat up for 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the wonton wrappers into triangles. If you have small wonton wrappers, you can just halve them, & large wonton wrappers can be cut into 4 triangles. Test to make sure the oil is hot enough by placing one wonton wrapper in the oil. If it bubbles right away you’re good to go. Fry about 4 wonton wrappers at a time, watching carefully to ensure they don’t burn. You’ll only need to fry them for about 15 seconds on each side, so it’s real quick. Remove the wonton wrappers once cooked and place them on a paper towel lined plate to soak up any extra oil. Let them sit until you’re ready to eat.
Now get the veggies prepped. Cut the mango and the avocado into chunks about the same size or a little smaller than the salmon. Finely dice the red onion. For the parsley, mince it.
Remove the salmon from the fridge after it has sat for at least one hour, and stir in all of the prepped veggies and herbs. Add in a pinch of both salt and pepper, and give the whole thing a taste. It should taste citrusy and very bright. Finish it with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
To plate it up, place your bowl of ceviche on a large platter alongside your prepared wonton chips and a pile of microgreens. Place a little ramekin of sweet chili sauce on the side, too (which was a super yummy addition!). Get to chippin’ & dippin’!
The most perfect bite!