Chupe de Camarones

A prawn chowder whose broth is made entirely from the heads, fried hard and pressed through a sieve.

Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains queso fresco whose rennet the source does not name, shellfish.

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg whole raw prawns, heads on
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 tablespoons ají panca paste
• 1 tablespoon ají amarillo paste, as on its own page
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 100 g long-grain rice
• 2 potatoes, in chunks
• 100 g peas
• 1 corn on the cob, in rounds
• 250 ml evaporated milk
• 150 g queso fresco, in cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. THE HEADS ARE FRIED AND PRESSED AND THAT IS THE BROTH. Pulled off, fried hard in oil until they turn deep orange and the pan smells of shellfish, then simmered and worked through a sieve with the back of a ladle so everything in them goes into the liquid and only shell is left behind. There is no fish stock in this and no stock cube: the heads are the dish. Discarded, and the soup is a milky vegetable chowder with prawns in it.
2. SO IT IS WORTH BUYING PRAWNS WITH THE HEADS ON even if it means a frozen bag rather than fresh tails. Headless prawns cannot make this soup at all.
3. THE HEADS ARE PRESSED HARD, not merely strained. Five minutes of scraping and pushing with a ladle. What comes through is thick and orange; what stays behind should be dry shell.
4. THE PRAWN TAILS GO IN AT THE VERY END, two minutes off the heat. They are already peeled and they are small: simmered with the vegetables they go to rubber and the best thing in the bowl is wasted.
5. THE EGGS ARE POACHED IN THE SOUP, one per bowl, cracked in during the last four minutes and left alone. Beaten through instead, they thread and cloud it.
6. AND THE MILK AND CHEESE GO IN OFF THE HEAT. Boiled, evaporated milk splits and the cheese goes stringy and squeaky; stirred in at the end they stay smooth.
7. Prawns peeled, the HEADS AND SHELLS kept, the tails refrigerated.
8. The heads and shells fried in the oil in a wide pan over a high heat 5 MINUTES, pressed down with a spoon, until deep orange and fragrant.
9. The water poured in, brought to the boil and simmered 20 minutes.
10. Worked through a sieve with the back of a ladle, 5 MINUTES, pressing hard. The shells discarded and the broth kept.
11. In the same pot, the onion softened 8 minutes, the garlic 1 minute, then the ají panca and the ají amarillo paste, made as on its own page -- fried 3 minutes.
12. The tomatoes cooked down 5 minutes, then the prawn broth poured in.
13. The potatoes and corn added, 10 minutes. The rice added, 12 minutes. The peas for the last 4.
14. THE EGGS cracked in one at a time and poached 4 MINUTES, undisturbed.
15. THE POT OFF THE HEAT. The prawn tails, evaporated milk, cheese and oregano stirred in and left 2 MINUTES to cook in the residual heat. Tasted, salted, served at once with an egg in each bowl.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Peru · All recipes