I have a friend visiting from Mexico that wants to make ceviche for us, but I don’t know where to take them to buy fish (and which fish) that are appropriate for ceviche. Generally at least in my experience the Mexican markets such as Northgate have less than desirable fish.
Any recs appreciated both in location and types of fish to purchase
You could ask them what they like but any firm white flesh fish - Corvina /sea bass, flat fish like halibut or flounder, snapper. Korean or Japanese markets usually have great fish. There is also places like Santa Monica seafood & the Joint ad wrll
not a ceviche expert, but i’ve had decent success buying opah (moonfish), wahoo (“ono”), or some kind of rockfish for ceviche from Santa Monica Seafood. i wouldn’t be surprised if there are better options at farmer’s markets or other vendors. you don’t want something super premium since it’ll be marinated, but also avoid the popular options of escolar (too risky for digestive issues) or tilapia (not a good fish). you’ll probably a fish that has decent firmness and is not too thin so you can get a decent yield of cubes that will stand up to “cooking” in the citrus juices. scallops are also good for ceviche but make sure to take out the little abductor muscle, which can have a bit of a fishy flavor. i avoid halibut because i’ve read about worms and it doesn’t seem worth the price premium for raw over wahoo, for example.
i’ve also gotten geoduck delivered from Catalina Offshore, but it requires a bit of prep and isn’t as cost effective for ceviche.
+1 to Santa Monica Seafood. Great selection, high quality, and the staff is very helpful - ask them what you should buy for ceviche and they won’t lead you astray.
By the way, did you know that Santa Monica Seafood makes ~$1 billion dollars in annual revenue? Learned that recently and it blew my mind. I thought it was just a local spot. I had no idea they were one of the largest seafood distributors in the country.
Fish King in Glendale also a good spot.
Central Fish Market
Goldfish Seafood Market
Sea bass and corvina, anything fresh and firm that holds up well in citrus; buy it same day, ask for good for ceviche or sashimi-grade
Second SM Seafood, King Fish, and The Joint all are great as well as Japanese (nijiya market) and Korean stores can have fabulous options as well. Snapper is often a good choice.
Thanks for the recs.
I will check out the Asian markets nearby!
Good for them but that is insane had no idea!
2200 Signal Pl, San Pedro, CA 90731
Saturday morning fish market at 0130-200am lol !!!
There is also one at Newport pier, Dory Fleet. Thats like at 4-5am.
also various farmer markets have fantastic fish mongers. Dry Dock Fish Co is one of them at many FM. Pop-up Fish Store - Farmers Market Locations - Find Us | Dry Dock Fish
The yelp page says open to public 2am-7am might have to check that out at some point but not now lol
Best to go early as possible! That’s a hell of a time to go. Mine as well stay up all day and night
I’m not in my mid 20s anymore lol
When I make Ceviche at home, usually I usually use Halibut. I also like to mix in other seafood. You can buy decent pre-cooked Octopus tentacles at Asian Markets. Whole Foods often has Calamari bodies and tentacles (Trader joes has a canned one that is also really good). Shrimp obviously. I tend to go for Gulf shrimp when available. Lately I’ve been buying the Ooishi brand shrimp since TransparentSea has closed, you can pick them up at Bristol Farms.
thanks for the tips transparent js closed for good?
Well… temporarily for a new build and they just started fundraising. So while I certainly hope things go well and as planned. It’s going to be a while for them to get up and running and odds are they’ll sell their industry clients before retail. But we’ll see. They are updating their Insta.