Garlic Seafood Soup

  5.0 – 9 reviews  • Soup
Level: Intermediate
Total: 55 min
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 25 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 1/2 pounds mussels
  2. 1 1/2 pounds clams
  3. 1 1/2 pounds red snapper fillets (swordfish or any other firm white fish can be used)
  4. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  5. 1/2 cup freshly grated ginger
  6. 1 cup finely minced garlic (about 2 heads)
  7. 1 cup finely minced sweet onion (about 2 small onions)
  8. 1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
  9. 1 medium yellow bell pepper, finely diced
  10. 1 medium tomato, finely diced
  11. 1/2 to 1 cup clam broth
  12. 4 limes, 1 juiced and 3 cut into wedges for serving
  13. 3 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely minced
  14. 1 1/2 teaspoons saffron threads
  15. 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper
  16. 1 very ripe banana, thinly sliced
  17. 2 cups light coconut milk
  18. Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  19. Crusty bread, for serving

Instructions

  1. Debeard the mussels if needed. Scrub the clams; if they feel too gritty, soak them in very salty ice water to expel the grit. Cut the snapper into 2-inch pieces. Set seafood aside.
  2. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 cup of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger, half of the garlic, and the onion. When the mixture becomes fragrant, add the red and yellow bell pepper and the tomato and cook for 5 minutes. Turn heat to the lowest setting and cover.
  3. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add remaining garlic, juice from 1 lime, clams, mussels and 1/2 cup clam broth. Cover pan and allow mixture to cook for 7 minutes. Uncover shellfish and discard any clams and mussels that have not opened. Add 1/2 of the cilantro, the saffron, snapper pieces, the jalapeno, banana, and the bell pepper mixture from the skillet. Stir to combine, making sure there is enough liquid, if not add more clam broth, then cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. (The banana will thicken the soup and will impart a sweet taste to counter the lime’s sour taste. Banana should completely break down during the cooking). Add coconut milk and turn the heat off. Cover and reserve.
  4. Uncover the soup, sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Portion into bowls (be sure to remove the jalapeno pepper) and serve with lots of crusty bread and the lime wedges.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 of 8 servings
Calories 504
Total Fat 22 g
Saturated Fat 6 g
Carbohydrates 32 g
Dietary Fiber 4 g
Sugar 8 g
Protein 44 g
Cholesterol 81 mg
Sodium 1255 mg

Reviews

Jennifer Hunter
This is still the best seafood soup recipe I make. I’ve tried a few others (even and Emeril recipe, and this one exceeds them all. Sooooo good. You will not be disappointed. Even made for my parents from the Maritimes, who are purists when it comes to seafood (for good reason, and they could not get enough! Try it…You deserve it :
Elizabeth Chaney
I have never before rated a recipe without having made the dish already, but I am breaking my own rule to balance out the “review” by Ruby. This area is meant to rate the recipes not the cooks.
Sarah Delgado
What a nasty comment. A lot of people have appeared in multiple FN challenges and contests. They have to qualify to be part of these shows, and it’s not easy.
Haley Wallace
The banana seemed weird but couldn’t tell it was in the dish. Very nice combination of seafood and flavors. I plan to make this again soon!
Scott Bell
“Babe, this is the best thing you’ve ever made!” – compliments from my boyfriend.

I ended up using normal coconut milk (instead of light). I didn’t have enough saffron (it’s so expensive!), didn’t have cilantro (substituted in curly leaf parsley instead) only had 1 clove of garlic, and still it turned out yum! I tasted before putting in the coconut milk and it tasted really odd – but don’t worry, the coconut milk brings the whole thing together.

I also turned it into a 1-pot meal – sauteed the veggies, garlic and ginger in a 3-qt pot, threw in the clam juice and all other ingredients (except the seafood) and let it simmer for a bit to meld the flavors. After the soup base seemed appropriate, tossed in the seafood and allowed to cook until done; added the coconut milk in at the end as the recipe calls for.

for the future, I will add a little more heat (maybe if I had sliced the jalapeno instead of leaving it whole). And I will reduce the recipe (my bf and I each had seconds with crusty bread and we still had leftovers enough for 2 more large servings). I’d also recommend using smaller clams because the cooking time of larger clams is too different from the mussels which open pretty quickly.

Warning: food prep is pretty significant unless you have a food chopper (dicing all the veggies is time-consuming)

Jeremy Mora
My husband and I watched the Gilroy Garlic Festival special on TV and we decided to make the winning recipe (at the time, we didn’t know which one it would be) for dinner that night. I’m really glad this soup won.

It is delicious! You don’t really taste the banana, but it adds a certain layer of flavor that makes this recipe tremendous. We used clams, red snapper, and squid (we had some on hand). It’s a refreshingly light broth, despite the whole cup of garlic (which really didn’t overpower it). Even my two boys (ages 8 and 5) ate it and enjoyed it. I would definately make this again.

Christian Hudson
don’t let the jalapeno and bannana scare you – this is delicious and pleases all palates – even my picky-eater roommate went for seconds! takes longer than 30 mins to prep but worth it!
Sandra Chapman
This soup is everything a paella would wish for – lots of flavor and lots of color – I also added shrimp (which I added at the very end) and it was spectacular.

 

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