Mariscada

Ingredients

Seafood

• 400 gprawns, shell on
• 400 gwhite fish fillet
• in chunks
• 2crabs, cleaned and quartered
• 300 gclams or mussels
• scrubbed
• 200 gsquid, sliced, optional

The broth

• 2onions, chopped
• 1red pepper, chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonstomato purée
• 4 tablespoonsoil or butter
• 1 litrefish stock
• or water with the prawn shells
• 2bay leaves
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• 1 teaspoonpaprika
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• 400 mlcoconut milk
• or 300 ml double cream
• juice of 1 lime
• a handful of coriander, chopped

To serve

• white rice
• tortillas
• lime wedges
• hot sauce

Directions

1. Discard any that stay open when tapped. Discard any with cracked or broken shells. Discard any that smell at all off. Cooked shellfish should open up. Discard any that stay firmly shut after cooking. Crab takes longest and squid least. Peel the prawns and keep the shells. Put the shells in a pot with water. Add a bay leaf to them as well.
2. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Simmering it takes twenty minutes. Let it simmer for about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes extracts the flavour. Strain the stock through a fine sieve. Press the shells against the mesh. Discard all of the shells afterwards. Pull the beards off any mussels.
3. Pull it firmly towards the hinge. They should close within a few seconds. Discard every single one that does not. Remove the gills and the stomach sac. Quarter them with a heavy knife. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the chopped onions to the pot. Cook them for a good eight minutes. Add the red pepper in with them.
4. Cook it for five more minutes. Add the crushed garlic to them. Add the cumin and the paprika. Cook them for one full minute. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add the tomato purée along with them. Cook them down for about eight minutes. The tomato must cook right down.
5. Oil should separate at the edges. Raw tomato taste should be entirely gone. Pour in the strained prawn stock. Add the bay leaves to the pot. Season it with salt and black pepper. Bring it up to a gentle simmer.
6. Let it simmer for about fifteen minutes. Add the quartered crab to the pot. Let it simmer for about ten minutes. Crab in the shell takes the longest. Pour in all of the coconut milk. Stir it through the whole broth. Coconut milk splits if boiled hard. Keep it at a bare simmer from here. Small bubbles should barely break the surface.
7. Add the chunks of white fish now. Give them about four full minutes. Shake the pot instead of stirring it. Add the clams or mussels to the pot. Cover it and let them steam open. Give them about four full minutes. Add the peeled prawns to the pot.
8. Add the squid if you are using it. Give them about two minutes only. Take the pot off as they turn opaque. Judging when it is done takes a look. Pick out any clams that stayed shut. Discard every single one of them. Do not force any of them open. Take the pot right off the heat. Squeeze in all of the lime juice. Scatter chopped coriander over it.
9. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Serving it is always done piping hot. Ladle it out into deep warm bowls. Serve white rice alongside it. Warm tortillas go with it as well. Put hot sauce out on the table. It does not keep at all well after. Cook and eat it on the same day.

Technique

• Live shellfish should be closed or should close when tapped: discard any that stay open, any with cracked shells and any that smell off. After cooking, discard any that stayed firmly shut, without exception and without forcing them open.
• Different seafood cooks at wildly different rates, so it goes in in order: crab first for ten minutes, then fish for four, then clams for four, then prawns and squid for two at the very end. Prawns go rubbery within a minute of being done and squid goes tough almost as fast, so take the pot off as they turn opaque.
• Prawn shells simmered for twenty minutes make a stock that carries far more flavour than water and are worth the extra step; longer than twenty minutes turns it bitter.

Substitutions

• Double cream stands in for coconut milk, though coconut is the more traditional on the coast.
• Crab claws alone are easier to eat than quartered whole crab.

Variations

• The mixture varies with whatever the boats bring in.
• Squid is added where available and left out where not.
• Do not stir once the fish is in; shake the pot instead, since fish breaks up easily.

History

Creamy seafood soup of the Pacific coast, thick with shrimp, crab and fish in coconut or cream broth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mariscada?

Mariscada is a soup & stew from El Salvador: creamy seafood soup loaded with shellfish. Creamy seafood soup of the Pacific coast, thick with shrimp, crab and fish in coconut or cream broth.

How long does Mariscada take to make?

Mariscada takes 40 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mariscada?

Yes, within limits. Double cream stands in for coconut milk, though coconut is the more traditional on the coast. Crab claws alone are easier to eat than quartered whole crab.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mariscada?

Cook it for five more minutes. Add the crushed garlic to them. Add the cumin and the paprika. Cook them for one full minute. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot. Add the tomato purée along with them. Cook them down for about eight minutes. The tomato must cook right down.