Shrimp Ceviche

Total Time: 18 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 18 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 2 medium cucumbers
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 large orange bell pepper
• 1 large yellow bell pepper
• 1 medium poblano chiles or 1 medium serrano chili pepper
• 1/2 large red onion
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 cup lime juice (fresh preferred, bottled okay)
• 1 1/4 lbs raw shrimp, butterflied and deveined (21-30 count)

Recipe

• 1 slice the ends off the cucumbers, then slice four strips lengthwise. the goal here is to get strips of cucumber with no seeds. cut each strip into smaller (approximately 1/4") strips using a small, sharp knife.
• 2 using a chef's or santoku knife, dice the cucumber strips into 1/4" cubes.
• 3 place diced cucumber into a large, sealable bowl. discard the center portion of the cucumbers.
• 4 dice each of the three bell peppers similarly, using as much of the flesh as possible. add to bowl.
• 5 cut a large red onion in half, peel it, and place the flat side down on a cutting board. cut off the top and bottom, then using your small knife, make a series of parallel cuts 1/4" apart, perpendicular to the top/bottom cuts. the use your chef's knife to cut perpendicularly to these cuts and you'll have perfectly diced onions. add to bowl.
• 6 finally, dice the chili pepper. care should be taken not to add seeds to the ceviche.
• 7 if using fresh limes, zest one or two and add the lime zest to the bowl.
• 8 rinse peeled, deveined, and butterflied raw shrimp and put in a large ziploc bag. pour in approximately 2/3 c lime juice. you can add a bit of lemon juice here, too, if desired, but lime should be predominant. if using fresh lime juice, you can throw a couple of the juiced lime halves into the bag as well. seal and lay flat in the refrigerator.
• 9 finely chop the fresh cilantro, reserving enough whole leaves for garnish. add chopped cilantro to bowl.
• 10 seal bowl and shake vigorously to thoroughly mix all ingredients. open and add the remaining lime juice. reseal and refrigerate.
• 11 the chemical "cooking" process begins immediately and usually takes several hours. i like the lime flavoring to be fairly pronounced, so i let the process carry on overnight. you'll want to flip the bag and shake the bowl a couple of times during the process.
• 12 the shrimp can be served whole (as pictured) or chopped into large pieces and incorporated into the ceviche.
• 13 garnish with cilantro leaves and serve with fresh tortilla chips or thinly sliced, toasted baguette bread.