Aprende a preparar un ceviche peruano clásico paso a paso

Learn how to prepare a classic Peruvian ceviche, step by step.

Learn how to make ceviche easily at home. You just can’t miss out on the flavour of this classic Peruvian dish.

BY Silvia Cardona | 30 September 2025

Ceviche is one of those dishes that you either love or hate. In general, anyone who likes raw fish can't resist a good ceviche. It is one of the star dishes of Peruvian gastronomy, originally from the coastal areas. Fishermen used to marinate the fish or seafood they had just caught in an acidic fruit juice and salt to preserve it better. This is the origin of ceviche and its many variations.

In general, ceviche consists of a base of white fish (corvina, grouper, sole, etc.) and leche de tigre (Spanish for “tiger’s milk”), the liquid in which the fish is marinated. Leche de tigre is made with citrus fruit juice (usually lemon and/or lime), coriander, a spicy ingredient such as chilli, and a bit of fish. Sometimes vegetables such as onion, celery or garlic are also added. Ceviche can also be prepared with oily fish, such as salmon, or some other type of seafood, such as octopus or shrimp.

The nutritional properties of ceviche

This is a dish with a high nutritional density. Ceviche provides high nutritional value proteins with its main ingredient, fish. Furthermore, it is also rich in micronutrients such as vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and iodine, among others. On the other hand, its fat content is quite low and entails mostly unsaturated fats. This may vary according to the type of fish that is used for its preparation.

Classic Peruvian ceviche recipe

Today we will share one of the most classic recipes for this delicacy: corvina ceviche.

Ingredients (serves 4):

500 g corvina (sea bass)
1 lemon drop pepper
40 g red onion, julienned
400 g roasted sweet potato
150 g toasted corn nuts
200g sweetcorn
1 handful of fresh coriander
Salt to taste

For the leche de tigre:

Juice of 4 limes
150 ml fish stock
20 g celery
10 g fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
1 handful of fresh coriander
Salt

Preparation:

Cut the sea bass into approximately 2 cm cubes (reserve a couple of them for the leche de tigre). Mix the rest of the fish in a bowl with half a chopped chilli pepper, julienned onion and a few leaves of coriander. Add salt to taste.
Next, prepare the garnishes for the ceviche. On the one hand, sauté the corn nuts in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil and set aside. Separately, boil the sweetcorn in plenty of water and salt until it is very tender. Finally, cut the roasted sweet potato into slices of about 2 cm.
For the leche de tigre: pour the lime juice, the reserved pieces of corvina, fish stock, celery, ginger, garlic, a few sprigs of coriander and half a chilli pepper into a blender. Blend until the texture is homogeneous. To obtain a smooth liquid, straining the result is suggested.
When ready to serve, place the cubes of sea bass in a bowl or deep dish, and add the rest of the ingredients: the corn nuts, the sweetcorn and the sweet potato slices; finally, add the leche de tigre.