Name: Ecuadorian Ceviche
Ingredients: 2 lbs Sea Bass cut into cubes; 1 Red Onion cut into long strips; 1 Red Pepper cut into thin strips; 2 tsp chopped Parsley; 4 Tbs cooking oil; 1 Stick of Celery finely chopped; 1 tsp Hot Pepper Sauce; 8 Tbs Lemon Juice; Salt & Pepper

Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ecuadorian Ceviche

Time1 hour

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Steam the sea bass, turning over once until the color changes to white (approximately 3 minutes).

Marinate

In a glass bowl, mix the lemon juice, cooking oil, parsley, hot pepper sauce, onion, celery, salt, and pepper.
Add the sea bass, which should still be firm, and coat thoroughly with the ingredients from the bowl.
Let stand in the bowl for 1 hour.

Serve

Serve with popcorn, toasted corn, and fresh bread.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

196Calories

3 gProtein

14 gFat

18 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Celery + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,467 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sea bass: Provides the main protein; steaming first sets it to white and firm before marinating.
Lemon juice: Acidity firms and whitens the fish proteins during marinating, giving ceviche its tangy flavor.
Red onion: Adds sharp flavor and crunch; its sulfur compounds mellow in the acidic marinade.
Cooking oil: Carries fat-soluble flavors and adds a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the marinade.

The step that matters

Let the fish stand in the marinade for 1 hour. Acid from the lemon juice gradually denatures the fish proteins, turning them opaque and firm. The fish should still be firm when added, so the marinade has to be tangy enough to finish the cure without overcooking it.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, parsley, celery, sauce, lemon):

Carrotfits better
Shallotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, parsley, celery, sauce, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Ecuadorian Ceviche