Booking choice: The Miraflores cooking class, from $48 per person. Check dates Tour details
Fish, lime, onion, chili and salt. That is the whole recipe, and there is nowhere for a tired ingredient to hide. In December 2023 UNESCO put the practices around Peruvian ceviche on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, naming the artisanal fishers and the women who run so many cevicherías.
This guide explains the dish, the marinade you drink, the lunchtime habit and the places to eat it. If you want to learn it, a cooking class puts the knife in your hand for less than a restaurant tasting menu.
The quick answer
Ceviche is raw white fish cured for a few minutes in lime juice with red onion, salt and ají limo or rocoto, served with sweet potato and corn. Limeños eat it at lunch, never late. Order it at a cevichería, try it on a food tour, or make it yourself: the Miraflores cooking class teaches it in a chef's home from $48, and the Barranco food tour prepares it in front of you as part of a full lunch from $105.
What is the national dish of Peru?
Ceviche. Peru declared it Cultural Heritage of the Nation in 2004, and UNESCO inscribed it in December 2023.
Peru has celebrated the Día Nacional del Cebiche every 28 June for more than fifteen years. The UNESCO listing covers far more than a recipe: the fishing, the farming of the limes and peppers, the cevicherías and the knowledge passed down in families.
The roots go deep. Wikipedia notes that the Moche on the north coast cured fish in the juice of a local fruit long before the Spanish brought limes and onions. The modern style, cured for minutes instead of hours, came in the 1970s from Japanese-Peruvian chefs such as Darío Matsufuji and Humberto Sato.
What is ceviche made of?
White fish, lime juice, red onion, salt and chili, with sweet potato, Andean corn and cancha on the side.
- The fish: firm white fish, traditionally corvina; in Lima lenguado (sole) is common. Mixed versions add octopus, prawns or black clams.
- The cure: juice of small Peruvian limes, squeezed at the last minute, with salt. The fish turns opaque on the outside and stays tender inside.
- The heat: ají limo, or rocoto for more fire.
- The sides: sweet potato for sweetness, big-kernel choclo and crunchy cancha.
Good ceviche is cold, sharp and gone in five minutes. It is never left to sit.
What is leche de tigre?
The milky juice left after curing the fish: lime, fish, onion, chili and salt. Limeños drink it on its own.
Many cevicherías serve a small glass of it as a starter, and Peruvians swear it cures a hangover. It is the best test of a kitchen. Too much lime and it bites. Done right, it is salty, sour, rich and hot at once.
You do not need to order it separately at first. Tip the bowl and drink what is left; nobody will mind.
Make your own ceviche, a tuna tartare and a pisco sour or chilcano in the hosts' Miraflores home, with fruit and 17 pisco flavours to taste. Up to 8 guests.
Explore the Miraflores cooking class Tour detailsWhy do Limeños eat ceviche at lunch?
Because the fish is landed in the morning and ceviche must be eaten fresh. AFAR puts it well: traditionalists would never eat it past midafternoon.
The habit shapes the city. Cevicherías do their business at midday, and a ceviche at dinner is a tourist tell. Plan your ceviche for lunch, and plan the evening for anticuchos, chifa or a pollo a la brasa.
Tours that run at midday fit the rule. The Barranco food tour is built as a full lunch, and the Surquillo market tour pairs ceviche with pisco after a fruit tasting in the market.
Ceviche, lomo saltado and pisco sour prepared in front of you on a lunchtime walk through Barranco. 4.9 stars from 944 reviews.
Check dates for the Barranco food tourWhat is the difference between ceviche and tiradito?
Tiradito is cut in thin slices like sashimi and has no onion. Ceviche is cubed and cured with onion.
Tiradito is the Nikkei branch of the family, a Japanese-Peruvian idea. The fish is sliced, laid flat and covered at the last moment with a sauce of lime and ají amarillo or rocoto. It is softer and smoother than ceviche.
A cevichería menu goes further. Arroz con mariscos (seafood rice), jalea (a fried seafood platter), chicharrón de pescado and causa all share the table. Order one ceviche and one hot dish to share; that is how Lima eats it.
Where did Anthony Bourdain eat ceviche in Lima?
At Sonia, a cevichería in Chorrillos, on No Reservations in 2006. Eat Like Bourdain lists it as still open.
At Sonia he ate ceviche, leche de tigre and black clam ceviche. On Parts Unknown in 2013 he went to Chez Wong for ceviche and tiradito, but Chez Wong has since closed, as has Ámaz, his Amazonian stop. Doña Pochita, the anticuchos place from the same episode, is still open.
Chorrillos is a fishing district south of Barranco, and its seafront cevicherías are a classic weekend lunch.
Fruit tasting in the Surquillo market, ceviche with pisco, then Criollo stews and a dessert in Miraflores: 10+ tastings.
Check dates for the Surquillo market tourWhere can you eat ceviche in Lima?
At a neighbourhood cevichería, in a market such as Surquillo, at a Nikkei restaurant, or on a food tour that serves it.
Prices run from a market counter to a tasting menu. Fine dining such as Central or Maido is booked separately and is not part of any tour. For a first ceviche with someone to explain it, the tours below serve it.
| Where | What you get | From (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Barranco food tour | Ceviche made in front of you, as part of a full lunch | $105 |
| Surquillo market tour | Ceviche with pisco after a market fruit tasting | $71 |
| Chinatown street food tour | Ceviche among street snacks downtown | $75 |
| Downtown street food in 2 hours | Ceviche at a huarique, among 15 tastings | $47 |
| Ceviche, pisco and pollo a la brasa | A ceviche lesson and tasting downtown | $39 |
Can you learn to make ceviche in Lima?
Yes. Three classes teach it, and two of them start with fresh produce from the market or the hosts' kitchen.
- Miraflores cooking class, from $48, 2 hours 30 minutes: Chef José Antonio and his wife María Alejandra teach in their home. The operator says the fish comes from artisanal fishermen and the ingredients are bought that day.
- Cooking class with market tour, from $67, 4 hours: pickup in Miraflores, the Surquillo market with a chef, then ceviche, causa and a pisco sour.
- Ceviche, pisco and pollo a la brasa tour, from $39: a ceviche lesson inside a downtown food walk.
Our class or tour guide helps you pick one.
Pickup from your Miraflores hotel, the Surquillo market with a chef, then cook ceviche, causa and a pisco sour. Recipes and a certificate to take home.
Explore the cooking class with market tour Tour detailsFrequently asked questions
Is ceviche safe to eat in Lima?
Yes, at a busy cevichería or on a tour at lunchtime, when the fish is freshest. The lime cures the fish but does not cook it, so freshness is the whole game.
When is National Ceviche Day in Peru?
Every 28 June, the Día Nacional del Cebiche. UNESCO added Peruvian ceviche to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2023.
Is ceviche raw?
Yes. The fish is cured in lime juice for a few minutes, which firms it and turns it opaque, but it is never heated.
Where did Anthony Bourdain eat in Lima?
Sonia in Chorrillos for ceviche (2006), and Chez Wong, Ámaz and Doña Pochita in 2013. Chez Wong and Ámaz have closed; Sonia and Doña Pochita are open.
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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Miraflores Cooking Class: Ceviche and Pisco Sour
- 1 ceviche and 1 tuna tartare per person
- 1 pisco sour or chilcano
- Fruit and pisco flavour tasting
Ultimate Peruvian Food Tour in Barranco
- Tastings that add up to lunch
- Coffee, soft drinks and pisco
- Ceviche and lomo saltado demonstrations
Surquillo Market and Miraflores: 10+ Tastings
Exotic fruit at the market, ceviche and pisco, then Criollo food by Parque Kennedy
