Chupe de Camarones (Peruvian Shrimp Chowder)

Chupe is the Peruvian national dish, and may be made of any and everything, so long as it holds its relationship to soup. Shrimp is my favorite seafood, so in it goes =) Thick & hearty; perfect for cold weather!

Category: Soups, Stews and Chili

Cuisine: American-South

3 reviews 
Ready in 1 hour 05 minutes
by Firebyrd

Ingredients

2 lbs shrimp with shells and heads

4 cups water (more if necessary)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 small red onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic clove finely chopped

1 tablespoon aji panca chili paste (can substitute tomato paste if necessary)

1 teaspoon aji amarillo chili paste

1 cup peas either fresh or frozen

1/4 cup long-grain white rice

1 ear corn (1-2 ears); cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

1 lb russet potato peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks

1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

1/4 cup queso fresco cut into 1/2-inch chunks (1/4 to 1/2c)

1 cup evaporated milk

1 tablespoon Fresh Oregano chopped

3 Eggs


Directions

Remove heads and shells from shrimp, and refrigerate the shrimp. Put shells and heads in a medium saucepan, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. While shells are simmering, heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Stir in the aji panca (or tomato paste) and aji amarillo pastes. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring often, for 10 minutes, or until onion is softened. Puree shrimp shells and cooking liquid. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl and reserve the liquid (solids can be discarded). Measure out the liquid and add enough water to make 5 1/2 cups. Add shrimp broth to onion mixture and bring to a boil. Stir in peas, rice and corn chunks. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add potatoes and salt. Continue cooking until potatoes and rice are just tender (approx 10 minutes more). Add shrimp and queso fresco. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is just cooked through, about 4 minutes (shrimp should be pink). Stir in the evaporated milk and oregano. Continue cooking and stirring. When the soup begins boiling again, Crack the eggs into the soup, spacing them so they remain separate in the soup. If you prefer, you can beat the eggs together in a bowl before adding them to the soup instead). When eggs are cooked, soup is finished.

Reviews


EXCELLENT recipe, but the last couple of steps need some work... if you cook the shrimp and *then* boil the eggs, the shrimp end up hammered. Seasoning and prep up to that point gave us a VERY good broth, but our shrimp ended up way over by the time the eggs had finished poaching. Will try again either frying or poaching the eggs separately.

bradiam

This was wonderful! I found all the ingrediants at the grocery mart and served it with rolls for dinner tonight.

MinnaPepina

Notes: Aji panca, aji amarillo and queso fresco can be found at Hispanic markets. You may be able to find the cheese at a well-stocked grocery store as well. [I posted this recipe.]

Firebyrd

Review this recipe »

Related Recipes

Get the BigOven app!

Find any recipe, add your own, make grocery lists easily from recipes. Enter any 3 ingredients and BigOven will tell you what you can make. It's free! (4.5/5 stars)