Cioppino
The Word
According to Wikipedia, Cioppino comes from ciuppin, a word in the Ligurian dialect of the port city of Genoa, meaning "to chop" or “chopped”. The word describes the process of making the stew by chopping up various leftovers of the days catch.
Some also say ‘cioppino’could be a corruption of the word" il ciuppin" which means little soup”. Cioppino appeared in North America in the late 19th century among Italian fishermen in the North Beach area of San Francisco. And we’re certainly glad it did.
Dirt2dining’s humble recipe is just one of many versions of this delicious dish.
Our Take on the Little Soup
The ‘secret’ of our cioppino is that we don’t use fish stock. We use coconut milk!
The Base
Ingredients (all organic, preferably; and from your own garden, most preferably)
One large pot
One large frying pan
One large onion, sliced
6 tsps (or so) olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, coarsely chopped
2 carrots sliced in 1/2 pieces on the diagonal
2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut
into 3/4 inch (or so) cubes
2 medium sized Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 cans of organic coconut milk
2-4 tsp red curry paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 small piece of star anise
1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 or 3 bagettes
The Seafood
1 large snapper filet
2 dozen manila clams
18 mussels
1 dozen fresh peeled & deveined prawns
The Method
Splash a thin layer of olive oil into your pot, over medium heat
Mix in the chopped onions and the garlic. Stir this mixture often so the garlic and onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
When the onions are transparent, add the fennel, and carrots & tomatoes
Add a little water to just cover the stuff in the pot & cook this mixture over medium heat for about ten minutes
Add the roughly cubed potatoes
Pour in the wine while singing your favourite song
Stir in the red curry paste
Add the coconut milk
Drop in the thyme, rosemary and star anise (you’re going to remove these things before you serve)
Stir and cook the base over low heat for about an hour
Add some oil to a frying pan. season your snapper filet with salt & pepper.
Over high heat, cook your snapper until it’s golden brown (7-10 minutes per side)
Add the cooked snapper to the pot, Give the whole mixture a good stir.
Add the manila clams and mussels and stir. Cook for about 10 more minutes.
Discard any clams or mussels that haven’t opened
Add the prawns & let them cook for about 5 minutes
You’re almost done
Remove the star anise, thyme and rosemary.
Stir in the tarragon and season your cioppino with salt and pepper. Add a little honey and more red curry paste, if you wish.
Ladle out generous portions and garnish with your parsley and serve.
