Think, Eat, Be Healthy

Conch Ceviche Recipe

Conch ceviche

Conch ceviche is a refreshing and satisfying seafood dish.

About this recipe

Ceviche is generally considered a dish “cooked” with the acids in citrus juice and the protein is almost always fish. This conch ceviche recipe is a good basic ceviche using lime juice for the acid and conch for the fish. This is made in the Yucatan style with fresh cilantro, avocado and ripe red jalapeno chile pepper for a little heat. Whole food health does not get any fresher.

Conch is almost the national dish of the Bahamas. There, this would be a “souse” or conch salad. It would have parsley instead of cilantro, pineapple instead of avocado and red pepper flakes place of the jalapeno. Many other variations are possible and just as delicious.

Not harvested in the US, conch is only available as a frozen import, usually from the Bahamas. Dense and chewy like large clams or calamari, conch needs a little preparation to make it more tender. Freezing alone helps a little and I think also adds a little sweetness. Cutting the conch into very small pieces is the most important step. Very large conch also benefit from pounding before chopping to help break up the protein fibers even more.

Ingredients

1/4-1/3 pound of conch, thawed, 1/8-1/4-inch diced                          1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded, 1/4-inch diced

1/4 cup fine diced red onion                                                                     1/2 cup fine diced red bell pepper

1/2 cup avocado, 1/4-inch diced                                                              1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Fine diced red jalapeno chile to taste                                                       1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste                                                      Juice of 1 1/2 limes, about 1/4 cup

Preparation

1. Pound the conch well before chopping for maximum tenderness. I usually use the back edge of my chef knife with the conch between two pieces of plastic wrap or inside a sandwich bag.

2. Place all ingredients into a stainless steel or ceramic bowl and toss together well.

3. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, toss well again and taste. Adjust salt, pepper and/or jalapeno as needed.

4. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes more, toss again and serve.

Notes

This recipe should serve four as an appetizer or two as an entree protein.

This conch ceviche recipe is easy to customize to match your taste. Tomatoes are a nice addition and also add extra acidity. Tropical fruit goes well with ceviches with pineapple and mango being my personal favorites. Make it a mixed seafood ceviche by adding shrimp, clams, bay scallops and/or calamari. Fresh local fish like snapper, amberjack and corvina are also delicious in ceviche.

Ceviche should fit into most healthy whole food diets that allow fish. This includes raw diets as no heat is applied and the “cooking” is purely a chemical reaction between the fish protein and the acid in the lime juice.

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