Thanks, Calphalon, for sponsoring this post!

I just realized that Reuben and I are getting married one year from today. Isn’t that crazy?! We are heading to our venue this weekend to semi-crash the wedding (the couple said we could come lol), but to really scope out the lighting conditions that day to help plan for our own wedding. This almost anniversary got me thinking about the adventures Reuben and I would go on during the early days of our relationship. Both of us lived with roommates and didn’t have a quiet space of our own to share, so most weekends we would go off to explore the Bay Area. It’s funny thinking of that time because we are such home bodies now and it takes so much effort to even put pants on and walk out the door for coffee.

Our trips often involved nature and a really good meal somewhere. One of my favorites was driving down to Pescadero Beach when the tide was low and hunting for agates. We have jars and jars and jars FILLED with agates if you want to take some. After poking around the tide pools and poking tiny sea creatures, we headed to El Toro Loco, our FAVORITE Peruvian place to get ceviche and a big pitcher of sangria. I don’t know if playing around the ocean somehow makes seafood taste even better, but their ceviche is just so perfect. It’s filled with plump shrimp, white fish, onions, corn, peppers, and sweet potato. It’s a little spicy, sweet, tart, and I could just the entire bowl with a spoon.

It’s been a while since we’ve driven down there (we need to change that), but I got the biggest craving for ceviche. It’s hard to recreate the magic of El Toro Loco, but my ceviche gets pretty close! It’s a simpler but just as flavorful version. I use fresh, high quality shrimp as my main protein, but I think scallops and white fish would be excellent too if shrimp isn’t your thing. The shrimp is tossed and “cooked” in freshly squeezed lime juice. The acid gradually cooks the shrimp until it’s firm and pink, just how heat would. While the shrimp is cooking in the lime juice, it frees up time to prep the rest of your add-ins.

Chopping Meditation

Making ceviche is a really great time to practice your knife skills. Since this recipe doesn’t require any active cooking, it allows you to focus more on the prep work. We’re going to add some minced red onion, cubed mango, minced habanero, and roughly chopped cilantro. I find chopping really meditative, you get into a rhythm with the chopping and it’s so relaxing. A good quality, sharp knife makes a huge difference. It’s also much safer to cut with a very sharp knife. I’ve only ever cut myself with dull knives I’ve had to use at friends’ kitchens or Airbnbs, so I always bring my own now! 

My Calphalon Precision Self-Sharpening Cutlery Set comes complete with all the knives you’ll need in the kitchen. I’m particularly fond of the Santoku, which is a Japanese-style chef knife. It’s the perfect size for me and the sharp pointy tip is perfect for mincing uniform pieces of onion and delicate enough to lightly score a mango. The self-sharpening knife block is also super convenient! You can shop at Calphalon.com to get your own cutlery set and make sure to use the code KRISTINA25 for 25% off your purchase!

If you want a visual for how to mince, score, and chop just check out my IG reel making this ceviche! 

Tie it all together with coconut milk

My spice tolerance is pretty high, so I really enjoy the heat of habanero peppers. It’s very spicy with some really nice floral flavors. It’s important to remove the seeds and mince it very finely. A large piece of habanero can really blow out your palette. The tart lime juice and sweet mango do a great job of balancing the spice, but to help mellow out the habanero even more is coconut milk. A little goes a long way here. The rich, creamy coconut milk ties all the strong flavors together and makes the remaining liquid at the bottom of the bowl so delicious. I could drink it straight from the bowl.

The ceviche is quick to make and actually keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days (if it lasts that long!). Serve it chilled with plenty of tortilla chips or plantain chips and enjoy! It reminds me so much of those weekend trips to the beach ☺️

Mango Habanero Shrimp Ceviche

Serves 4

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 

Juice of 8 to 10 limes, enough to submerge the shrimp

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/3 cup red onion, minced

1 large mango, cubed

1 habanero pepper, minced with seeds removed

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

1/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

Tortilla chips for serving

1. Cut the shrimp in half and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add the lime juice and toss to combine. Chill the shrimp in the fridge and let the acid in the lime juice cook the shrimp until they are pink, at least 30 minutes or overnight.

2. Add salt, red onion, mango, habanero, cilantro, and coconut milk to the shrimp and lime juice. Toss to combine and serve with tortilla chips.