Homemade fish broth makes this healthy soup very tasty. I always loved this dish 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 freezing 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 they only had fish soup. I took a small cup and went back to the bus stop. It warmed me up and reached such a good place inside me that I ran back for more.
Prep Time::35 mins
Cook Time:: 1 hr
Additional Time::30 mins
Total Time:: 2 hrs 5 mins
Servings::8
Ingredients
2 pounds whole fish, scaled and cleaned, or more to taste
1 lemon, juiced
8 cups water
4 green bananas, chopped
1 pound pumpkin, cut into 1-inch pieces, or more to taste
2 potatoes, chopped
2 ears corn, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 ounces carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
½ cup chopped okra
4 scallions, chopped
1 hot chile pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped
Directions
Gather all ingredients.
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Rinse fish with lemon juice; drain.
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Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add fish; reduce to a simmer and cook until soft, about 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove fish to a plate, reserving broth in the pot. Let fish cool; remove bones, keeping large pieces of flesh intact.
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Bring broth to a boil. Add green bananas, pumpkin, potatoes, corn, carrots, okra, scallions, chile pepper, garlic, salt, black pepper, and thyme. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
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Stir in fish pieces and simmer until flavors combine, about 5 minutes more.
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Remove soup from heat and let stand before serving, about 30 minutes. Discard chile pepper.
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Recipe Tips
You can slit the chile pepper before adding if you prefer more heat.
When reheating leftovers, do not boil; it will break down the fish.