Cuban Shrimp Soup (Sopa de Camarones)
Cuba has its own selections of exotic dish, and one of them is Cuban shrimp soup (Sopa de Camarones). The recipe, courtesy of Hector Rodriguez from About.com, is a delightful appetizer that goes for any seafood meal (or as a main dish, if you wish). You need about 30 minutes of preparation time and 1 hour of cooking time, but the result will not let you down. The creamy, pink soup with its combination of shrimp, corn and potato will make your family members or dinner guests ask for more.
The recipe yields 4 to 6 portions.
Ingredients:
1 pound of shrimp (de-veined and chopped)
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup onions (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon garlic (finely chopped)
3 large tomatoes (peeled, seeded and finely chopped)
1 cup water (or fish stock)
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 medium potatoes (peeled, cooked, cut into chunks)
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 ears of corn (cut crosswise into thirds)
Preparation:
In a saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic in the butter until soft.
Stir in the tomatoes, water or fish stock, cloves, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
Bring the mix to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Set a large sieve over a 4 quart casserole. Pour the contents of the saucepan into the sieve and press down, forcing the food through the strainer to make a puree.
Discard the contents of the sieve and return the puree to the saucepan.
Add the potatoes and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly and simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
Stir in the milk and cream, add the corn, cover again and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the shrimp, cover and simmer another 5 minutes, until shrimp just turns pink. Serve the soup at once.