Colombian Fish Soup with Coconut Milk
White fish simmered with coconut milk, cassava, potato and papa criolla, the way it is made on Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific coasts. The coconut milk turns the broth pale and slightly sweet, and the two kinds of potato thicken it. Serves six.
Servings: 6
Calories: 304kcal
Ingredients
- 4 fillets hake, tilapia or catfish, cut into bite-sized cubes any firm white fish; see the notes on when to add it
- 1 cup potatoes, diced
- 1 cup cassava (yuca), diced, optional frozen cassava works and comes peeled and cored
- 8 cups water
- 1 cup papa criolla, diced small yellow Andean potatoes, sold frozen in Latin groceries; baby Yukon Gold is the nearest substitute
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- ½ large onion, grated or finely chopped
- 1 sprig cilantro, finely chopped the leaf, not the seed
- 1 tablespoon lime juice lime, not lemon; it goes on the raw fish
- ¼ bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 ½ cloves garlic, crushed half goes on the fish in step 1, the rest into the pot in step 2
- 1 cup coconut milk full-fat tinned coconut milk, not the carton drink
- Salt, cumin and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Season the fish with salt, pepper, the lime juice and half the crushed garlic, and set it aside to marinate while you chop the vegetables.
- In a large pot, fry the rest of the garlic with the onion until translucent, then add the water. Once it boils, add the diced vegetables (potato, cassava, papa criolla, carrot and bell pepper) and the marinated fish.
- Add the coconut milk, salt, cumin and pepper. If you want the soup more golden, a pinch of achiote colouring, sold in Colombia as azafrán, does it without changing the flavour.
- Cook over medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
- Serve hot, with the chopped cilantro scattered over and a few drops of lime.
Notes
One thing worth knowing before you start: the recipe puts the fish in with the vegetables and cooks everything for 35 to 40 minutes. Cubes of tilapia or hake are done in five to eight, so cooked that long they break up and thicken the broth rather than staying in pieces. Plenty of Colombian coastal soups are made exactly this way and the result is good, just not chunky. If you would rather have distinct pieces of fish, hold it back and add it for the last ten minutes. Use tinned full-fat coconut milk rather than the carton drink, and do not let the soup boil hard once it is in, since coconut milk splits.
Nutrition
Calories: 304kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 97mg | Potassium: 882mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1875IU | Vitamin C: 30mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 3mg