How to Make Sockeye Salmon Ceviche

Right now here in the Pacific Northwest there are millions of Sockeye Salmon running up our rivers. With this I’ve been filling my freezer and trying new Salmon recipes. I’ve always wanted to try Salmon Ceviche but have only had recipes with white flesh fish (Mahi, Snapper, Tilapia, etc). I figured I’d venture out and replace the white fish with the bountiful Sockeye Salmon… and it greatly surpassed my expectations. In this “How to” tip I’ll outline the all the ingredients, measurements and instructions. See the video at the bottom for an extensive walk-through, I’ve also included a short summary of the Fraser River fishing trip (“The Catch”).

Ceviche Ingredients & Measurements

2 fillets of Sockeye Salmon (skin & pin bones removed)
3 Limes
1 – 2 Avocados
1 Cucumber (1/2 cup)
1 Red Onion (1/4 cup)
1 bunch of Green Onion (1/4 cup)
1 ripe Mango (1/2 cup)
2 Vine-ripe Tomatoes
1 Jalapeno (1 Tbsp)
Coarse Salt
Pepper
Optional: Cilantro (1/4 cup)

Important: To ensure you are not ingesting tape worms within the meat, ensure you’re using Salmon that has been either flash frozen or in a standard household freezer for 10-14 days.

Sockeye Salmon Ceviche Recipe

Step 1 – Fillet a Sockeye Salmon (2 fillets) and remove pin bones, if freshly caught.

Step 2 – Cut off skin by delicately slicing above skin, then cut the skinless salmon into 1/4″ – 1/2″ cubes.

Step 3 – Place cubed Salmon into a non-corrosive dish (use a glass or ceramic bowl, not plastic).

Step 4 – Juice 3 Limes over the Sockeye cubes. Ensure all the Salmon gets covered by lime juice, its best if there’s enough lime juice to continually coat the fish.

Step 5 – Cover the bowl and place the cubed Salmon into the fridge for 1 – 2 hours. If the Salmon is freshly caught then 1 hour is fine. If store bought (was frozen) keep in the fridge for 2 hours.

Step 6 – Start cutting up all the remaining ingredients as per the measurements. Cut ingredients into cubes that mimic the size of the sockeye of 1/4″ to 1/2″. Additional notes on how to prepare these ingredients:

Remove the seeds from the tomatoes
Dice the Jalapeno’s, if you like a spicier dish keep the seeds
Optional: If you include cilantro it should be finely chopped

Step 7 – Excluding the Avocado, Salt & Pepper, place all the cut up ingredients from Step 6 into different bowl. Gently mix together.

Step 8 – Remove the salmon after it has “cooked” in the lime juice in the fridge for 1 – 2 hours. Strain the salmon chunks from the lime juice (do not rinse).

Step 9 – Get Ceviche serving bowl ready (new bowl or clean the previous bowl). Add the bowl of cut up ingredients to the serving bowl. Gently mix.