No.65 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Ceviche

Made famous by Gastón Acurio

Photo: Manuel González Olaechea, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Peru: The Cookbook, 2015.

Peru's national dish, and since the Peruvian food boom, one of the most ordered seafood dishes in the world. Acurio's tiger's milk is the template.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Peru: The Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) very fresh skinless firm white fish (sea bass, halibut, flounder or corvina), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 small garlic clove, grated
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger (optional)
• 1 aji limo or habanero chile (or 1 jalapeño), seeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup (240 ml) fresh key lime or regular lime juice (from about 10 limes), squeezed gently by hand
• 2 ice cubes
• 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced and rinsed in cold water
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
• To serve: boiled sweet potato slices and corn (choclo or sweet corn)

Steps

1. Chill everything, including the bowl. Put the fish in the bowl, sprinkle with the salt and toss. Leave 1 minute.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and chile and toss.
3. Pour over the lime juice and add the ice cubes. Stir 1 to 2 minutes; the outside of the fish will turn opaque while the center stays translucent.
4. Remove the ice, add the onion and cilantro, and toss. Taste the juice: it should be sharp, salty and spicy. Adjust.
5. Serve at once in chilled bowls with sweet potato and corn, and the juice spooned over.

Chef's tips

• Buy fish meant to be eaten raw from a fishmonger you trust.
• Squeeze limes gently; pressing hard releases bitterness from the peel.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Peru: The Cookbook by Gastón Acurio: get the book, No. 78 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 64Pozole rojo→ No. 66Grilled steak with chimichurri