I know there is a rivalry on this but I can't figure out what makes one better or more unique than the other. Peru has done a better job of getting the word out but Ecuadorians won't give Peruvians any credit. It seems odd to me - when food is good it's good. Am I just supposed to trust Ecuadorians that theirs is better and I have to go there to know it? What restaurant in Ecuador would have the best ceviche so I could do an apples to apples comparison?

The recipes are different so you can't really do apples to apples. The Ecuadorian ones often have orange juice, tomatoes, ketchup, and the pure Peruvian ones can just be limon and aji plus salt and soften MSG. I don't think I've ever seen a tomato near one. The garnishes usually differ, often regionally in Peru. In most places in Ecuador it will be plantain chips and maybe popcorn. In some parts of Peru you'll get the canchita toasted corn and sweet potato, possibly some boiled corn.

The Ecuadorian ones I've had also tended to be more soupy.

The types of seafood can differ also. In Ecuador look for black clam.


The best ones are at little local places and markets with access to fresh seafood and depend on what's been caught or harvested. Sorry no famous restaurant recommendations.

Mlgb has provided a pretty good comparison of the two versions which really, apart from the use of raw fish, are not that similar in taste. For meet the Peruvian version is street ahead of the ecuadorian version. Fish, lime, chilli & onion and maybe a touch of garlic is all, that is needed. The addition of ketchup is an abomination, as is the use of msg, but I have rarely found the later.

If you want good ceviche, go to Peru wherthere are countless excellent places to small it form market stalls to high end restaurants.

Concur with the two above experts. Never had Ecuadorian ceviche, and from the description of it, never would. Orange juice, ketchup? !Ay!

It is unpleasant to make comparisons, you have to understand that cooking is an art and as such every cebiche or ceviche (as you like to write it) has its particularity. The Peruvian Ceviche is made from raw fish, this has to be cooked by the lemon juice, has a point of cooking, neither raw, neither too cooked, as the Italians would say with the spaghetti "Al dente". The Ecuadorian cebiche the fish is cooked and has other ingredients different from Peruvian ceviche, but it has an extraordinary flavor. If you are in Quito I recommend going to the Cebiche de la Ruminahui and if you are in Guayaquil go to Marrecife Marisqueria Restaurant. My final advice is enjoy both ceviches, the Peruvian and the Ecuadorian. "Better to die for eating than for hunger".

Just a note about "orange juice" in ceviche. Originally ceviche was made with "naranja agria" or a mix of this and Peruvian lemons (which are more like a lime). This can be translated as bitter orange but is not the Seville orange. There are a few different fruits which are called "naranja agria". In the Dominican Republic you can buy Maggi brand powder to marinate meat. It is probably the same fruit. At some point lemon became the sole ingredient and the "naranja agria" more or less disappeared. The "naranja agria" looked like a green lemon with pockmarked skin. Looking for a photo, I think it is "naranja trifoliata". At some point someone seems to have read this ingredient as "orange juice", an abomination. So is tomato! They add tomato in Mexico as well.

The best traditional ceviche is to be found in Perú but I would use the same caution about where to eat it as I would for eating sushi. You are really eating raw fish. I would never eat it on the street.

In my view, cooked ceviche is the same as cooked sushi--a contradiction in terms.

Do agree with Huentetu re not eating this on the street, but I don't recall seeing any for sale on the street in Lima or elsewhere in Peru. Wouldn't regard this as "street food" because it would be pretty difficult to eat.

Depends on where you are in Lima. When I used to go to Lima nearly every year and had acquired a "Peruvian stomach" I did try it from a cart once in the area just north of the Central Station of the Metropolitano..to the horror of my lodgings. It must have been well known among the locals because there was a mob around it. I survived and it was fantastic.

You can also get Peruvian ceviche "a la minute" at the various markets so you can see that the seafood is on ice and fresh.

The "lemon" used in Peruvian ceviche is usually the little key lime type of citrus.

And of course citrus isn't native to the Americas anyways...so they use whatever variety is available locally.

Maggi is an interesting product with different formulations in different countries.. In some areas, it has MSG as do the boullion cubes.


If you wonder why that chickens soup is always so good.. Might be the MSG!