Caldo de camarón by Sofia Craxton
This delicious warming soup is spicy and extremely moreish, a bit similar to a Tom Yum soup. It is served at many cantinas in Mexico for free, either as a welcoming gesture for choosing to visit a particular establishment or just to whet your appetite. This soup is fantastic on a cold day and like with any hot and spicy soup, it is quite comforting for those
who also happen to have a hangover!
My late father was a real foodie and he loved this soup, so much so that when he was young he became such good friends with the chefs at his favourite cantina, they gave him the recipe. He used to make it on cold days, so to me,
is a synonym of winter and I dedicate this recipe to his memory.
Serves 6-8 persons.
For stock:
1ltr water
1 sprig fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 medium onion (quartered)
2 carrots (peeled and cut into chunks)
2 stalks of celery (peeled and cut into chunks)
2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 fish head and bones of any medium sized fish (rinsed)
For soup:
100g dried prawns/shrimp (with shell on)*
4 medium floury potatoes, e.g King Edward (peeled and cut into 1cm dice)
3 carrots (peeled and cut into 1cm dice)
250ml water
16 responsibly sourced, fresh king prawns (shell and head)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
3 limes (cut into wedges)
Make some fish stock first:
Put the water, herbs, three quarters of the onion, celery, carrot and garlic into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Once this is boiling add the fish head and bones. Reduce heat so liquid is barely simmering and cook for 15 minutes. Strain the stock and leave to one side.
Now prepare the dried prawns:
Put the dried prawns with enough water to cover in a pan and bring to the boil, reduce heat so liquid is barely simmering and leave for only 5 minutes. Drain the prawns but reserve the cooking liquid. Peel the prawns and keep some whole, chop the rest and leave to one side with the cooking liquid.
Put the stock in a saucepan and add the chopped and whole dried prawns with their reserved water, diced carrots and potatoes. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked (approx. 10 minutes).
Finally prepare the chilli sauce for the broth:
Meanwhile de-stem and de-seed the dried chillies and cut into large pieces. Soak them in 250ml of hot water, then blend with the remaining quarter of onion and pass through sieve.
Once the vegetables are cooked in the broth, add the chilli sauce mixture and the fresh king prawns. Simmer for a further 10 minutes and add seasoning to taste. Serve hot in individual bowls with lime wedges.
* You can find dried prawns/shrimps at any large Asian supermarket, but if not you can substitute with fresh prawns instead. They don't give the same depth of flavour but will still make for a tasty soup.