Today is my dear Mother’s birthday; were she alive, she would have been 78 years young!
Several years ago we dined at Diego, a lovely Mexican restaurant in the MGM Hotel in Las Vegas and I had a wonderful Ceviche that I have not been able to forget. It was an unusual combination of coconut milk and lime juice that just hit my taste buds perfectly. I adore ceviche and order it whenever I see it on a good restaurant’s menu and have not had the pleasure of these flavours together in one since. So, I thought I’d take a stab at it and create an opportunity to use one of my pearls in the process! Clever, don’t you think?
I’ve made ceviche before, the non-cheater kind but I wanted to put this together quickly for an hors d’œuvres recently and I didn’t feel like waiting for the acid to ‘cook’ the shrimp so I came up with this ‘cheater’ version. You can make the ceviche the old fashioned way, but this really worked out well!
I would have liked to add cubed avocado to this dish but sadly forgot to put it on my shopping list! I’ll remember next time, this is a very quick and tasty recipe.
It’s also rather coincidental in this cyber world how we all post about similar things so I can’t go without mentioning my dear Australian Blogging friend Lorraine who just last week posted this gorgeous recipe about real ceviche. Great minds think alike…please don’t finish the last part of this saying, it kinda bursts my bubble!
Cheater Shrimp Ceviche
Makes ~200 mL Ceviche (slightly more than 3/4 cup), or 8 single serve Chinese Spoons
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp coconut milk powder
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated finely
- 1 tbsp rosa’s lime cordial
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 80 g cooked cocktail shrimp, chopped
- 3-4 slices of English Cucumber (0.5 cm or 1/4″ thick) cubed
- 1 celery rib, cubed
- 1/4 cup avocado, cubed
- 1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp green onion, chopped
- 1 tsp smoked paprika pearls
Directions:
- Combine the coconut milk powder, finely grated ginger, lime cordial and lime juice in a measuring cup and blend until smooth with a stick blender.
- Combine the chopped shrimp, cubed English cucumber, avocado (if I had some) and celery with the cilantro and green onion, toss with the coconut milk dressing to coat evenly.
- Serve immediately garnished with the smoked paprika pearls.
Can you believe I’m a complete newbie to the world of ceviches? Never had one before at all. Your “cheat ceviche” both looks and sounds lovely Eva. I love the little pearls on top too… so pretty!
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Thank you so much Charles, it’s mainly a South American and Mexican specialty so I’m not surprised that you wouldn’t have had it in Europe. The cheater version is safer as well because Sissi mentioned that the real Ceviche technique of cooking with an acid doesn’t necessarily kill off any parasites, which is kind of creepy!
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Our moms were born just a year apart…yours was a beauty and I know how you must miss her. Your ceviche looks incredible! I’ll take avocado with mine, too!
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Thanks so much Liz, I remembered your ceviche from a while ago, it’s really such a lovely summertime dish. Thank you for your kind words about my Mom, you would think with time it would get easier but it doesn’t.
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hey I am all about slaving over the stove for a good dish but I am all on board for cheater versions too! i love this
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Thanks Jessica so nice of you to comment.
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Oh, happy birthday to your beautiful mom. What a striking image — she is radiating personality from every fiber of her being. The kind of photograph that could inspire an entire book. I certainly see a lot of you in your mom Eva — I am thinking of you and sending tender, loving thoughts your way today (in fact from the moment I saw this beautiful photo on FB this morning, I’ve had you and your family in my thoughts). Hugs, xx.
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Thank you Kelly, I’ve always thought I looked more like my Dad but it’s very flattering to hear that you see my Mom in me.
Thank you for your kind thoughts, I really appreciated it yesterday, those days are never easy.
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That’s a beautiful photo of your mother. She looks very pretty. It seems she passed away well before her time which is so very tragic. It’s great to see you using those pearls you made. Your dish looks stunning xx
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Thank you for your kind words Charlie, yes her time was up much too soon. Thank you for your lovely compliment on my Ceviche.
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What a lovely photo of your Mother, Eva. She was a real beauty and I see her in your face.Your ceviche looks wonderful. What a way to start a dinner and how impressive! I wonder how many of your guests see those red pearls and, thinking them to be some sort of weird salmon roe, are shocked to taste smoked paprika. I love surprising my dinner guests like that. 🙂
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Oh my John, now you are making me blush too — I always thought I looked more like my dad.
I adore ceviche because it tastes so fresh and I was pleased to be able to come up with such a simple way to do it. Yes it was rather surprising to taste smoked paprika instead of the salty salmon roe.
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What a lovely post about your mother, she sounds so wonderful. paprika pearls in ceviche, wow!
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Thank you kindly Cheri, nice of you to drop by.
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Eva, your mother was really beautiful and seemed a very elegant woman! She looks on this photograph as if she were a woman with a strong character too 🙂
We live far from the sea or ocean, so in spite of a big choice of seafood and fish I often prefer not to risk eating it raw… This is one of the reasons I have never prepared cheviche (I’m sure the fishmongers don’t even know if the fish they sell can be eaten raw and until when…) In Japan I always eat tons of raw food – even rare chicken breasts – and would be deeply shocked if anything made me ill… Here I had to throw away fish so many times because it just didn’t smell fresh in spite of being bought the same day…
Your cooked shrimp “cheat” cheviche looks delicious. Who cares if the shrimp is raw or not.
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Thank you kindly for your lovely compliment about my dear Mom, she was very elegant and you are quite correct, she did have a strong character.
I have heard of rare chicken but I am not sure if I myself could stomach it, having been told all of our lives that pink chicken is not good for you. Have the Japanese bread salmonella out of chickens? I understand that is why we are able to eat pink pork these days because salmonella has been bread out of the animals; back when I was growing up, they had to cook the pork to death, so dry and overdone.
I can certainly understand your reluctance to make ceviche where you are, but I have always understood the acid, lemon or lime juice does indeed cook the fish so it’s really not raw, I find even the texture is like it’s been cooked on heat. But I can certainly understand your hesitation particularly when there is a perfectly good cheater version!
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Eva, this chicken is bred in a special way (in avery hygienic environment to avoid any disease and you can trust the Japanese with hygienic environment… : they have space to walk, but are constantly indoors and are never mixed with older/younger chickens, etc. (there are some videos); in short, in Japan it’s not served everywhere and it’s an expensively bred kind of chicken; it’s so delicious, I get hungry even writing about it. I had it first in an izakaya specialising in skewers (yakitori). I had first one to taste and then ordered five more!!! the following year I came back to the same place and ordered at the beginning some other skewer types + 5x this one because I know I’ll never eat raw chicken in Europe or anywhere in the world. I wouldn’t trust.
You are right about the pork! In France I saw pregnant women eat steak tartare because doctors say the tapeworm is practically non existent in good farms so if it’s from a safe source, there is no need to worry.
The acid does change the “meat” texture so that it’s like cooked, but doesn’t kill the parasites. Have you ever bought whole raw mackerel? It’s the fish which almost always has parasites for example… I also found parasites occasionaly in other fish I bought. Parasites are a good sign though: it means the fish is rather fresh if they are still alive 😉
I think raw shrimp doesn’t have parasites, but then it’s more delicate and not so fresh once it arrives here.
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I hear you Sissi, but for me it would be the texture that I couldn’t stomach. When we first had pink pork, I was almost unable to eat it but now I have grown accustomed to it. Thank you for your comment about the Ceviche, it’s good to know. I have never bought whole mackerel and finding a parasite would definitely be a huge turn off for me. Now you have given me the willies about raw beef, I just had steak tartare yesterday! Although if the tapeworm ate my calories and I lost a few kilos, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world ;-)!
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Your mom looks like a model or a movie star…so beautiful and you definitely favor her, Eva. Your images are particularly pretty of this fabulous sounding ceviche. Who cares if it’s “cheater” when it tastes wonderful. and after making the pearls to add to it, I’d say it’s not “cheater,” but maybe “modern.” 🙂
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Thank you so much Betsy, what a lovely thing to say about me and my mom. I loved this dish too and it will be gracing our summer table frequently for sure, I may even make more of these smoked paprika pearls.
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I just cannot get over how much you and your mom look alike Eva – so beautiful! This ceviche is a wonderful tribute to a special day. Here’s to you both! 🙂
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Thanks you so much Kristy, I’m just flattered that you think so. I always thought I looked more like my Dad. I appreciate your kind thoughts for today, thank you.
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Loving your photos and the combination of flavours in the recipe too!
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Hi Claire, thank you, it was a very tasty dish with a slight surprise with the smoked paprika pearls.
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Your mom is beautiful and looks just like her daughter… I love your little pearls and I bet they tasted delightful in this shrimp starter dish.
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Thanks so much BAM, I’m absolutely blushing with all these wonderful compliments!
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Very clever indeed. Beautiful presentation. I am not into the “real” ceviche so this is my kind of recipe.
Your mom is gorgeous and you look like your mom.
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Thanks so much Norma, I think you would enjoy the flavours of this cheater version for sure. I’m very flattered that you think so, thank you.
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Ceviche is a nice first course, very refreshing during the summer.
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Hi Karen, it is one of my favourite dishes for sure.
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That looks fabulous Eva and I really want to try your version too! Your mum is a real beauty-just like you! 😀
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Thanks so much Lorraine, what a coincidence isn’t it? I’m blushing by your lovely compliment, thank you.
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Your mom looked lovely and this dish is also exquisite with its garnish of bright red pearls.
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Thank you kindly Maria.
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What a beautiful lady your mother was, Eva. Happy birthday and sending hugs.
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Thank you so much Liz, she was a beauty inside and out.
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