Recipe: Moroccan Turmeric Seafood Soup
Around the World in 30 Soups: This month Kitchn is collaborating with chefs and cookbook authors to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Morocco.
We turned to Nargisse Benkabbou, the London-based author of Casablanca, the most tempting collection of Moroccan recipes we could imagine. This soup draws directly on her memories of growing up in Tangier.
This recipe for turmeric seafood soup is inspired by a soup my parents ate in a small restaurant in Tangier, Morocco, many years ago. Tangier is on the Mediterranean coast where delicious fresh seafood is abundant throughout the year.
This dish has just a few ingredients, but the main one is ground turmeric. It’s a very common ingredient in Moroccan cooking, mostly used in tagines and soups. I love this soup because it reminds me of my parents — but I also think it’s incredibly tasty and and easy to prepare. Who can resist?
—Nargisse Benkabbou, author of Casablanca: My Moroccan Food
Turmeric Seafood Soup
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons
olive oil
- 3
garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 teaspoon
ground turmeric
- 3/4 teaspoon
salt, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon
ground black pepper
- 7 ounces
skinless flaky white fish fillet, such as cod, cut into large chunks
- 2 cups
vegetable stock
- 1 1/4 cups
water
- 14 ounces
live clams
- 7 ounces
cleaned squid tubes, sliced into rings
- 1/2 cup
flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic, then stir in the turmeric, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Throw in the fish pieces and cook for 5 minutes, turning them occasionally.
Pour in the stock and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes until the fish is just cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare your clams. Sort through them and chuck out any with damaged shells or that don’t shut when lightly tapped on a surface. Scrub the shells clean. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water and drain.
Add the clams and squid rings to the pan, re-cover and leave to cook for about 5 minutes until the clams have opened and the squid is tender. Discard any clams that have failed to open. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary. Add the parsley and give the contents of the pan a good stir. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Recipe from Casablanca: My Moroccan Food by Nargisse Benkabbou. Reprinted with permission from Firefly Books Ltd. 2018 / Text copyright © 2018 Nargisse Benkabbou.
