ParihuelaPeruvian seafood soup

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic, crushed to a paste
• 3 tbsp ají amarillo paste, ground yellow Peruvian chile
• 1 tbsp ají panca paste, ground red-brown Peruvian chile
• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, diced
• 1 (about 600 g)1 (1 1/3 lb) whole white fish, such as sea bream or sea bass, cleaned and scaled, cut in thick pieces across the bone
• 1 whole crab, cleaned, quartered, shell on
• 120 ml1/2 cup dry white wine
• 120 ml1/2 cup light lager, in place of the chicha de jora (fermented corn drink) of the Peruvian recipe
• 1.5 liters6 1/4 cups fish stock, see notes
• 4 mussels, cleaned
• 4 scallops, cleaned, on the half shell if possible
• 100 g3 1/2 oz cooked octopus, sliced
• 150 g5 1/2 oz large shrimp (langostinos), peeled
• 150 g5 1/2 oz squid, cut in rings
• 1 tbsp chuño (potato starch) or cornflour, dissolved in a little cold water
• 2 tbsp dark beer
• salt, chopped cilantro (culantro) and lime wedges, to taste and to serve

Method

1. 1

   1. Heat the oil in a wide, deep pot and soften the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic, the ají amarillo and ají panca pastes and cook, stirring, until the pastes smell fragrant.

2. 2

   2. Add the diced tomato and cook for 3 minutes more, then season with salt.

3. 3

   3. Add the fish, the crab, the white wine, the lager and the fish stock. Bring to a boil and cook over high heat for about 10 minutes.

4. 4

   4. Add the mussels and cook 5 minutes more, then lift out the fish, the crab and the mussels and set them aside, discarding any mussels that stayed shut.

5. 5

   5. Add the scallops, octopus, shrimp and squid to the pot and cook over high heat for only 5 minutes.

6. 6

   6. Stir in the dissolved chuño and the dark beer and let the broth thicken lightly for a minute.

7. 7

   7. Return the fish, crab and mussels, add the cilantro, adjust the salt and serve in deep bowls with lime wedges.