Light, bright, healthy and easy, ceviche is summer’s quickest fancy food option. Cooked, yet not heated, ceviche saves you toiling away in a hot kitchen yet gives you the most glorious appetizer or lunch. And it’s one of the easiest and prettiest dishes in the world to prepare. The yuzu tips it into must-make territory.
Ceviche, as you probably know is fresh fish “cooked” in citrus juice. I first experienced this way of cooking several years ago with Andrew at London Nikkei cuisine specialist, Chotto Matte, where we ploughed our way through a head-spinning selection of Japanese-Peruvian small plates. All delectable, despite initially being sceptical and not a little squeamish. I was hooked at first bite.
The lime, lemon, grapefruit or, in this case, yuzu cooks the fish in a natural chemical process called denaturation, turning the flesh from soft and translucent to firm and opaque before your very eyes.
Ceviche is a very Central and South American way to enjoy fresh fish; more a technique than a dish. While the citric acid is key to the cooking, unlike heat, this method doesn’t kill bacteria so it is of utmost importance to use spanking fresh fish, preferably from a fishmonger. You may even want to freeze the fish for seven days then defrost to “cook” in the seasoned juice. I don’t bother, but if in doubt do freeze. Ceviche is very widely eaten, and very healthy to boot, so don’t let this little PSA worry you.
I’ve done something a bit unusual with my ceviche, using an oily fish rather than the typical white fish. Most oily fish – certainly mackerel and sardine – are too strong, but lightly smoked raw salmon is excellent. You could do this recipe with more typical sea bass, grouper or sole, but I love the added interest of a whiff of distant smoke from raw smoked salmon. Oh, and although catfish is a white fish it is way too strong here.
Just to further emphasise, the smoked salmon used here is not ready to eat smoked salmon found with the other cooked meats and fishes. Smoked salmon in this recipe is still raw and displayed amongst the other fresh fish. I buy mine at Waitrose, where I also nicked this idea. And made it my own way, I might add. 🙂
If you have got this far and happen to be vegetarian or even vegan I’ve got a very palatable tweak for you: make this up with thinly shaved fennel. Boom.
As for the yuzu, although quite tart, the juice of this floral, fragrant Japanese fruit seems to be in every au courant recipe and trendy food product just now. If you can’t get the bottled juice, use fresh grapefruit, which is the best approximation for this recipe. I get my yuzu juice at Waitrose, found with the Asian ambient temperature ingredients. I use it in this recipe, in salad dressings, mixed with chilli and brushed on cooked white fish, but also whisked into my daily cold matcha tea. It is not a one-hit wonder so do buy a bottle if you see it. You can also easily find it on-line (souschef.co.uk is a great source of cheffy things generally and has a great selection of yuzu products).
Yuzu-curious? This article from finedininglovers.com gives facts and uses about this rather addictive, if niche, ingredient.

Easy Yuzu French-Style Yogurt Cake, coming soon 🙂
I will be back soon with the most fantastic – and fantastically easy – French-style yogurt cake using this ugly but oh so beautiful fruit.
Are you au fait – or perhaps that should be el familiar – with ceviche? What about yuzu? Are you seeing it in everything?
Smoked Salmon and Yuzu Ceviche
Light, bright and easy, ceviche is summer’s quickest fancy food option. Cooked, yet not heated, ceviche saves you toiling away in a hot kitchen yet gives you the most glorious appetizer or lunch. And it’s one of the easiest and prettiest dishes in the world to prepare. Hooray!
Use grapefruit juice in place of the yuzu if the latter is unavailable. xx
130g (4.8 oz) raw smoked salmon, skinned
2 tsp bottled yuzu juice
5 tsp orange juice
pinch of sea salt
3-4 radishes, thinly sliced or finely chopped
Palmful of sugar snap peas or mange tout/snowpeas, sliced on diagonal
Palmful of cooked, cooled edamame (green, immature soybeans, found in the freezer section) OR young peas
1/2 jalapeno or serrano pepper, finely diced
2 tbsp finely diced yellow or red pepper
Some peashoots or rocket leaves
Method
1. Dice the salmon into small bite-sized pieces.
2. Mix the yuzu, orange juice and salt in a non-reactive bowl. Add in the diced salmon and all the remaining ingredients except the pea shoots. Marinate for 10 minutes.
Serve with the pea shoots as a light lunch or appetizer/starter.
Other ceviches to try
Salmon Ceviche Canapes with Herbed Mayonnaise
Tenderstem and Fish Ceviche (link through in the post)
also, How to Make the Best Ceviche and Common Mistakes to Avoid from Huffington Post
and a yuzu one from me
Matcha Green Tea Granola Bites with Yuzu Drizzle
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Ripe for Pinning!
this is such a delicious and healthy recipe….wow
Thank you. You must try it for yourself!
I look forward to trying this, it looks delicious. Could you tell me how to get the cake recipe too please?
Thank you, Ella. Cake is coming on Thursday!
yeah it really does look delicious salmon is my favorite fish and my favorite food (:
Wow… Yummy.
I’m really inspired.
I love ceviche but have never made it myself and the idea of using Yuzu is epic. I must get some. I was actually given some fresh local trout by a friend yesterday so maybe I’ll try this dish with that! Beautiful pics as always x
I’m probs too late butting in here, but if you could lightly smoke that trout first this ceviche will absolutely be your favourite way to eat trout. Easiest too! (ps Greetings from sunny Croatia!)
I love ceviche, and I especially love salmon, my nickname is Grizzly on account of I will always choose to eat it if there’s a choice. Your recipe looks delicious but more important your photos are gorgeous!
That’s too funny! I love salmon, but perhaps not *that* much. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I appreciate it, Abigail. Er, Grizzly 🙂
Oh yes…yuzu is on every food show and in every magazine right now!
I’ve loved yuzu for at least 8 years. I’m glad to see that UK chefs are catching up with me 😉 Have you tried anything with yuzu yourself?
I know I’ve said it before, but I always find the cycle interesting…food bloggers are always so far ahead of mainstream!
I haven’t tried any yet but I would like to. Ben loves his sour flavours so I think he’d like it x
I would recommend getting yuzu powder first off as it can be mixed with water to approximate the juice or used dry in baking. Another great use is in togarashi sichimi seasoning. Oh my days that’s a good collab!
Okay, great, thank you for the recommendation xx
Where do you buy yours?
Souschef should have powdered yuzu although it’s been awhile since I got it there. Last pouch was bought in Kyoto.
That’s where I was just looking – thank you 👍🏻
Is it there? Otherwise do get the bottled stuff. Not sure if you have a Waitrose nearby but it might be cheaper there as you can get smaller bottle to try it out. I have some every morning in my cold matcha. 😊😊
Yes, it’s there, it’s not cheap though!
A little goes a long way. 😊
Aha, okay 😊
This sounds utterly fresh & delicious, I love all the ingredients so I know this is going to be a winner. Your photos make my mouth water 🙂
I need to pop to Waitrose! I didn’t know that they sold yuzu juice. I haven’t cooked with it myself (haven’t seen it for sale anywhere) but I did have some rather delicious yuzu cocktails at a bar in Brighton a while back that I am eager to recreate!