What Encebollado Means to Me
I want to write a blog for this fish soup that, in my country, is called encebollado. It’s sort of our national dish, and I didn’t begin loving it until I was 20 years old.
I grew up with my whole family eating it every Sunday after church at this street place called “La Chica.” My father would basically beg me to eat it and tell me we had to, because it was what we did, and it was so healthy and all that. And me being a brat, I would hate that time.
Now that I think about it, I remember it so well, and it makes me happy to think about it. The smell of fresh tuna in the morning used to make me sick, but now when I smell it, it’s so surreal and good.
Even though I haven’t been to my country in more than 10 years, I ask my mom to make it for me, and I feel alive. And now even my Turkish husband loves it. I can honestly say it’s his favorite food from my country. Every other Ecuadorian dish, he says, is sweet or just weird mixes, like the use of peanut butter, but anyway.
Sundays After Church at “La Chica”
I want this blog to make the reader envision the place where we were eating the fish soup in Ecuador. It was right on the street in a kiosk big enough to sit six, and every time my father would take us to “La Chica,” the girl would make room for our whole family.
The way my mom makes this is the real deal. She gets fresh tuna and yuca, and she says this method is the easiest for someone like me who isn’t the best cook or doesn’t have the best skills. So it works for the best cook and someone like me. No one can fail.
Ecuadorian Encebollado | Authentic Fish Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 bell pepper (pimento), chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/2 bunch cilantro stems + a few leaves, for the broth
- 10 pieces yuca (cassava), about 600 g total
- 4 cans (5 oz / 142 g each) albacore tuna, drained, about 480 g
- Salt, to taste
- A small splash of oil
- Water enough to boil ingredients
For the onion-cilantro salsa
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced (julienne)
- Juice of 3 lemons
- Fresh cilantro, finely chopped (for garnish)
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Boil the base, Add water, chopped red onion, bell pepper, tomato, and cilantro stems (with a few leaves) to a large pot. Add the yuca, bring to a boil, and cook until the yuca is partially tender.
- Remove yuca and vegetables, Lift the cooked vegetables and yuca out of the pot together, leaving the broth behind.
- Reserve most of the yuca, Set aside the larger yuca pieces on a cutting board. These go back into the soup later.
- Blend for thickness, Add all the cooked vegetables and a few pieces of yuca to a blender, then ladle in some broth from the pot to help it blend. Blend until smooth.
- Return the blended mixture, Pour the blended vegetables and yuca back into the pot with the broth.
- Cube the reserved yuca, Cut the set-aside yuca pieces into smaller, evenly sized cubes.
- Add the yuca and tuna, Add the cubed yuca and a few pieces of tuna to the pot together.
- Finish cooking, Simmer until everything is well cooked and the flavors are combined. Add a small amount of oil and check the salt.
- Make the salsa, In a separate bowl, mix the julienned red onion with lemon juice, chopped cilantro, and salt. Gently massage the onions with the lemon juice to soften them.
- Combine and serve, Add pieces of tuna to each serving bowl. Ladle the hot soup (encebollado) over the tuna. Top with salsa and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Want a low carb version of a fish soup recipe? Check out our low carb soup recipe.
See Also
