Caribbean Fish Soup

Not just a healthy soup, it's very tasty too. I always loved this soup while growing up in the Caribbean. To my surprise it turned out to be a good warm-up drink too. Long story short, as I waited for a bus on a very cold and windy winter evening in NYC, I noticed a West Indian restaurant across the street. I ran in to get a cup of coffee or tea. The last thing on my mind was a bowl of soup. They were about to close and the only thing they had was fish soup. I took a small cup and went back to the bus stop. It warmed me up so much and reached such a good place inside me that I ran back for more.

• Preparation Time: 35 mins
• Cooking Time: 60 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins
• Calories: 203 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 8 cups water
• 2 potatoes, chopped
• 2 ears corn, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
• 2 whole fish, scaled and cleaned, or more to taste
• 4 green bananas, chopped
• 1 pound pumpkin, cut into 1-inch pieces, or more to taste
• 4 ounces carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• ½ cup chopped okra
• 1 hot chile pepper

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Rinse fish with lemon juice; drain.

Step 2

Bring water to a boil in a large bowl. Add fish; simmer until soft, about 30 minutes. Strain fish, reserving broth. Let fish cool. Remove bones, trying to keep large pieces of fish intact.

Step 3

Bring broth to a boil. Add green bananas, pumpkin, potatoes, corn, carrots, okra, scallions, chile pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in fish. Simmer until flavors combine, about 5 minutes more.

Step 4

Remove soup from heat and let stand before serving, about 30 minutes. Discard chile pepper.