Spicy Fish Soup

It's been raining now for weeks it seems, and the chill and damp put us all in the mood for a warming but not-too-hearty soup. Did I not in fact have a quart of shrimp broth stashed away in my freezer? And could I tweak my chicken tortilla soup recipe to work for seafood?
While the container of pink-tinted broth slowly bobbed and defrosted in a water bath in the sink I gathered up the rest of my ingredients.

Spicy Fish Soup

Serves 4-6

• 1 quart concentrated stock, can be shrimp, fish or even chicken broth. Cubed broth or canned can be used too.
• 1 lb monk fish (any white fleshed fish works), cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 bag of mussels
• 1 lb shrimp
• 1 small red onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 head of flat leaf parsley
• 1/2 head of cilantro (chop stems and leaves separately)
• 1 tsp ancho powder
• 1 tsp green chile powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 fresh jalapeno, thinly sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• large handful of grape or cherry tomatoes 
• 4 potatoes, peeled and diced 
• 1 can hominy (see note below)
• 1 bay leaf
• salt
• olive oil 
• lime

Dice all the vegetables except the small tomatoes
Heat a large, low pan, add oil
Sweat the onions, garlic and celery under a lid for a few minutes, add chopped cilantro stems and some leaves and parsley, spices, tomatoes and jalapeno followed by the broth. 
Add additional 1 to 1 1/2 quarts of water to make a good amount of liquid. Once it comes to a boil, add potatoes and grape tomatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender.
Add hominy, salt and adjust seasoning as needed. Gently stir in seafood and simmer with the lid on lid for a few minutes until shrimp and fish are opaque and mussels have all opened. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Serve with crumbled blue (or yellow) corn chips and a dollop of crema. Sour cream or creme fraiche can substitute for crema.


The degree of spiciness of course depends on just how hot your chili powder is and the amount of jalapeno added. You can tame it by using less of both, or using a milder chili.
As with most soups, this was even tastier the next day when the flavors had melded and matured.

And finally, a note on hominy. Hominy is corn that's been put through a process called nixtamalization. It has a wonderful nutty-corny flavor along with a delightful al dente texture. Most American grocery stores carry it, but I was thinking of good substitutes and imagine that black beans would add an interesting taste and texture contrast, but I think I would omit the potatoes then and maybe stick with shrimp and no other fish. Try it and let me know!