Catfish simmered with potato, corn, green plantain, cassava and arracacha. Those last three are what make it a sancocho rather than a fish soup. An hour, and it feeds five.
The three roots are the dish
Take the green plantain, the cassava and the arracacha out of this recipe and what is left is a fish soup with vegetables in it. Those three are why it is a sancocho.
All three are starchy, all three break down slowly, and between them they turn the water into a broth with real body. That is what sancocho means: a substantial one-pot stew, not a clear soup.
They also go in first, before anything else, because they need the longest.
Arracacha
The one ingredient most people outside Colombia have never cooked with, and worth seeking out.
It is a root in the same family as celery and carrot, pale yellow inside, sold in Latin markets as arracacha or sometimes apio criollo. The texture is between a potato and a parsnip and the taste has a clear celery note behind the starch.
In this recipe it is grated rather than chopped, and 150 grams of it dissolves entirely into the broth. That is its job here: not to be a piece you find with a spoon, but to thicken and flavour everything around it.
Parsnip is the nearest substitute if it is not available.
Fish last
Two pounds of catfish go in with the potatoes for the final 20 to 25 minutes, and nothing before that.
Fish cooks in a fraction of the time the roots need. Put it in at the start and it disintegrates into the broth long before the cassava is soft.
Catfish is the right choice because it is firm and holds together. Bagre is what this would be in Colombia. Any firm white fish behaves the same way; a delicate one will not.
Thickening it further
The fifth step contains a small piece of practical advice that is easy to miss: if you want it thicker, grate an extra potato into the broth before the last 25 minutes are up.
Grated raw potato dissolves completely and its starch thickens the liquid. It is the same principle as the arracacha and it costs nothing.
More sancocho
- Beef sancocho — the one with ribs.
- Chicken sancocho — the most common one.
- Sancocho cream soup — what to do with the leftovers.
- Coconut fish soup — the other coastal fish dish.
- Sancocho trifásico — the biggest of them.
Fish Sancocho FAQ
A root related to celery and carrot, sold in Latin markets as arracacha or apio criollo. The texture sits between potato and parsnip and it tastes faintly of celery. Grated into the pot it dissolves and thickens the broth.
Parsnip is closer than potato, though nothing tastes quite the same. You can leave it out and the soup still works, but it will be thinner and it loses the flavour that distinguishes it.
The starches. Green plantain, cassava and arracacha all go in, and between them they thicken the broth and give it body. A fish soup has none of that.
Near the end, with the potatoes, for the last 20 to 25 minutes. Everything else needs longer, which is why the plantain, cassava and corn start the pot.
Grate an extra potato into it before the last 25 minutes are up, which is what the recipe itself suggests. The starch dissolves and thickens everything.
A powdered achiote or annatto colouring, sold in sachets in Colombian shops. It turns the broth golden and adds almost no flavour. The old translation called it food colouring, which suggests something quite different.
Yes, as long as it is firm. Catfish holds its shape through 25 minutes in a pot; a softer white fish will break up into the broth.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs catfish (chopped)
- 5 potatoes (peeled and chopped)
- 3 large green plantains (chopped)
- 400 g cassava (peeled and chopped)
- 150 g arracacha (grated: see the notes)
- 2 corn cobs (chopped)
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 tomato (chopped)
- 1 celery stalk
- Achiote or annatto colouring ('color' in Colombia, to taste)
- Cumin (to taste)
- Cilantro (chopped)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- Water (enough to cover everything)
Notas
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to the boil. Meanwhile peel the plantains, potatoes and cassava, chop them and rinse them.
- Add the plantains and the cassava to the pot, then the chopped corn cobs.
- Add the celery stalk, the chopped onion and the tomato, season with salt and pepper, and bring it back to the boil.
- Once it is boiling, add the achiote colouring, the cumin, the garlic and the grated arracacha. Cook for about 15 minutes.
- Add the chopped fish and the potatoes and carry on cooking for 20 to 25 minutes, until everything is soft. For a thicker broth, grate an extra potato into it before those 25 minutes are up.
- Stir in the chopped cilantro at the end and serve.
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