An appetizer for peak summer when the woods are hot and muggy and mushroom variety season is peaking. Cold, tart, spicy and refreshing, mushroom ceviche is infinitely variable with whatever mushrooms you have on hand. So far I've used it on big blends of summer mushrooms as well as a version focused on Caesars Amanita and all of them have disappeared quickly.

This is one of my favorite appetizers I've adapted from my friend Chef Chad Hyatt's book The Mushroom Hunter's Kitchen, which was recently re-released in an expanded version.
We met up for a hunt in late August when he was visiting Minnesota and picked a big batch of Boletinellus, which he was set on making into ceviche for an event. I went home and made a version with a mix of mushrooms I had in the fridge, and then two more batches with different mushrooms after that-it's that good.
Chef's Tips
You have an important choice to make in preparing the mushrooms: steaming or boiling. Chad's original recipe is great, and calls for the mushrooms to be boiled. I found that when I boil brightly colored mushrooms there's a loss of pigment and colors can get muted.
A workaround I came up with is to steam the mushrooms so there's not as much contact with water which preserves the color.
The catch is that there's less residual liquid, so you'll need to add a splash of mushroom stock or vegetable broth to make sure it's nice and juicy, with enough leche de tigre in the bowl to slurp up afterward.
Another thing to keep in mind is your tolerance for mucilaginous foods. The versions I've made with boiled mushrooms were noticeably mucilaginous, where the steamed mushrooms kept a more neutral viscosity. Amanitas and boletes seem particularly prone to it. Honey mushrooms will be slimy either way.
To ensure there's enough liquid in the dish, I made a batch of mushroom broth from trimmings to make up the difference.
Another option here is adding a non-mushroom ingredient for color and texture. Chad adds cooked, diced sweet potato. I fell in love with hearts of palm after eating them in mushroom ceviche by Chef Gustavo Romero of Nixta. You might add one or the other, or just use mushrooms.
While you can technically use any mushroom you want, species with a firm texture will be the best crowd-pleasers. Young chanterelle buttons, firm polypores like chicken or hen of the woods, pheasant back edges, and just about any cultivated mushroom will give you good results.
Finally, if anyone you would serve this to hasn't eaten every wild mushroom in the ceviche they may want to pass, as introducing new species to a diet is best done one at a time to ensure the eater isn't sensitive to them. This is generally a non-issue if you use cultivated mushrooms.
How to Make Mushroom Ceviche
Cut the mushrooms into pieces that can be scooped up on a tortilla chip. You're looking for ¼ inch slices or ½ inch dice. If you're using a blend of mushrooms, cut each one in a slightly different shape to preserve their identity.
Next, steam or boil the mushrooms until they're completely cooked. If you're boiling they can be cooked for 5 minutes. If steaming, I recommend 10 minutes to ensure they're fully cooked.
Toss the mushrooms with salt and cool while you prepare some hot chilis, herbs, red onion and lime juice. Cilantro is traditional, but I've made it so far with culantro, rau ram, and Hmong cilantro and all were very good.
Mix the cooled mushrooms with the remaining ingredients, double check the seasoning for salt, lime, herbs and spiciness and adjust until it tastes good to you. Serve the ceviche with tortilla chips alone as an appetizer or as part of a larger meal.
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Mushroom Ceviche
Equipment
- 1 1 gallon pot with lid for steaming or boiling
- 1 Steamer basket
- 1 2 quart mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 8 oz wild mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt or to taste
- 3 oz ⅓ cup fresh squeezed lime juice (roughly 4 large limes)
- ½ a habanero pepper finely chopped, or your favorite fresh hot pepper, to taste
- ½ oz ½ cup roughly chopped cilantro, culantro, or Vietnamese coriander
- 2 oz red onion any tough outer layers removed and sliced into paper thin, 1 inch slices
- 2 oz hearts of palm sliced into ½ inch coins (optional but really good)
- ¼ cup strong homemade mushroom broth chicken stock, or water in a pinch (see note)
- Tortilla chips, for serving Ideally a firm, non-brittle chip like Donkey Chips
Instructions
Prepare the Mushrooms
- Trim the mushrooms of stems and any woody parts, then cut into ¼ inch slices or pieces that will fit on a tortilla chip.
- If you’re using wild mushrooms you may have a good amount of trim. Save the trim, put it into a small 2 quart saucepot with a bay leaf, ½ a chopped medium onion and a crushed clove of garlic.
- Add water to the pot until the mushrooms are barely covered, bring to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and cook on low heat for 1 hour. Cool, strain the liquid and reserve. To enhance the shelf life, add a good pinch of salt to taste. This is optional.
- If you would prefer to boil the mushrooms, see the recipe notes.
Steaming the Mushrooms
- Put the mushrooms in a large pot, like a pasta pot fitted with a steamer basket and a few inches of water. Bring the pot to a boil, turn the heat to medium and steam for ten minutes.
- Remove the mushrooms to a bowl, toss with the salt and cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. From here the mushrooms can be prepared ahead of time up to 2-3 days if you like.
Assemble the Ceviche
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix well, double check the seasoning for lime, heat and cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.
EC
YUM!!! Thank you!!!
Alan Bergo
Thanks
Brenna
How long is the ceviche good for after making? Does it store well or should be eaten right away? Looks delicious!
Alan Bergo
Good question. It's definitely not going bad in a day, or two, or three. I finished off a batch I'd forgotten about in the fridge a few days ago that was 1.5 weeks old and perfectly fine (although I refresh it with some new herbs). The mushrooms are essentially pickled and could probably last longer than that if they're stored in a jar with a lid to prevent evaporation.