Chilean seafood broth

Caldo de marisco is a quick, brothy seafood soup. Onion, garlic and parsley are simmered briefly in water, then shrimp, clams, white fish and scallops are poached in it with a splash of white wine. The broth stays light and clean, so the flavor of the shellfish comes through.

Ingredients

6 cups water
1 onion (medium, chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 parsley (fresh sprigs, plus chopped parsley for serving)
3⁄4 cup wine (dry white)
1⁄2 pound shrimp (8 oz large shrimp, shell on)
1 pound clams (littleneck or Manila, scrubbed)
3⁄4 pound fish (12 oz firm white fish fillets, such as cod or halibut, cut into 2-inch pieces)
8 scallops (optional, sea scallops, side muscle removed)
1 pinch seasoning (salt (including 1 teaspoon for the water) and freshly ground black pepper to taste)

Instructions

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot over high heat with 1 teaspoon of salt, the onion, garlic and parsley sprigs. When it boils, lower the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the broth smells fragrant.

Add the wine and bring the broth back to a simmer. Add the clams, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until they begin to open.

Add the fish and shrimp, and cook for 3 minutes more. Add the scallops and cook for 2 minutes, until the shrimp are pink, the fish flakes easily and the scallops are opaque. Discard any clams that stay closed.

Season with pepper and more salt if needed. Ladle into warm bowls, dividing the seafood evenly, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve at once, as the seafood toughens if it sits in the hot broth.

Bowl of seafood broth with open clams, whole shrimp and chopped parsley on a wooden table
Yield
4 servings
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 25 minutes
Total time
45 minutes

Nutrition220 estimated calories per serving

Notes

The cooking is short on purpose. Each type of seafood goes in according to how fast it cooks, so everything is ready at the same time.

Shell-on shrimp add more flavor to the broth than peeled ones. Remove the shells at the table if preferred.

For a deeper broth, use bottled clam juice for 2 cups of the water, or simmer the shrimp shells with the onion and garlic and strain them out before adding the seafood.

Serve with crusty bread to soak up the broth.

Variations

With tomato: add 2 chopped tomatoes with the onion.

Spicy: add a sliced ají or jalapeño with the garlic, or a pinch of cayenne.

Fresh herbs: use cilantro instead of parsley for the garnish.

Oysters: replace the scallops with 12 shucked oysters, added in the last minute so they just firm up.

Source

Chilean cuisine

Seafood soups and light shellfish broths are common along the Pacific coast of South America, where they are especially popular during Lent and Holy Week, when many people avoid meat. This simple version, with the wine added at the end, is a home-style preparation and is not tied to one documented regional dish.