Shrimp Asopao

Hello HungryFoodLovers! It is Lunes Latinos! Can you tell how excited I am? I am really, really excited because today I will share with you a recipe that is made to do just that, excite you and your taste buds.

This bright and tasty soup tastes and smells like the Caribbean. It’s an island in a bowl, a splash of ocean in your mouth, a spoonful of sunshine, and a well-deserved serving of tropical warmth for my soul. Ok, ok,  I’ll stop, enough of the cheesy metaphors. All I can say is that it’s just good, really good and you must try it at home. Think gumbo but easier or risotto but with a light broth that can be enjoyed in a much shorter time.

This is Asopao which is very popular in Puerto Rico, Venezuela and in my Dominican Republic where is mostly enjoyed on rainy days or to feed large groups. This is a one-pot, comfort food crowd-pleaser usually made with chicken, but a more festive version for special occasions is made with seafood. As my goal cooking it was to transport myself to a hammock under the coconut trees of the Dominican Republic, I decided to go with the seafood version. I have not found many variations of this dish across Latin America, but if you know of a similar dish with a different name please share it with us, we would love to know.

Shrimp Asopao / Asopao de Camarones

Rice and shrimp are the stars of the dish.

Due to the simplicity of the recipe there are no step by step pictures as all ingredients go in one pot and are cooked till the final result looks like this.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Asopao – yields 8 bowls

Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup clam juice
1/2 cup carrots, minced
1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen
8 cups of water
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 cups rice
1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
1 pound shrimp, deveinedDirections

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add onions, garlic, peppers and cilantro until onions are translucent.
Add tomato paste and clam juice mixing well.
Add carrots and peas let cook for about 5 minutes so that all the flavors marry well before adding water.
Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil over medium high heat (keep the remaining water in another pot, bring to a boil and set aside over very low heat).
Add salt and rice to the main pot with veggies and stir.
Bring the heat down to medium and keep stirring.
Regularly add more water from the hot water pot to make sure the rice keeps cooking on the same amount of liquid and it does not evaporate out.
Keep cooking for about 15 minutes and check the texture of the rice. It should be soft all the way as you bite and should have doubled in size.
Once rice is cooked add lime juice and vinegar and stir.
Add shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes.

TIPS:
  • Do not cook this dish with much time in advance before serving as the longer the dish sits the more liquid the rice will absorb resulting in a more risotto style dish. This dish requires a proportion of at least 4:1 broth to rice in order to be an authentic Asopao.
  • Do not overcook the shrimp (longer than 5 minutes or until they become bright pink) as this will make them tough and chewy.
  • To add acidity to the dish Agrio which literally translates to sour (a Dominican spicy, vinegar based and with a touch of sour orange sauce) isadded to the dish at the end of the cooking process. If you do not have Agrio you can replace this effect with lime juice and vinegar like in this recipe.
  • This dish is a meal by itself but Dominican like to enjoy it with a side of avocados and fried plantains.
Category : Entrees, Lunes Latinos
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