Blue Water Crab Chowder
In the Caribbean, you are likely to come across Conch Chowder on menus, but I decided to use white crab meat instead for this dish. The waters of the Caribbean are so blue and clear and filled with an abundance of fish and shellfish – the crab is particularly sweet. Gorgeous!
Method
Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, add the whites of the spring onions and the fennel and cook for 6–7 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and thyme and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Stir in the allspice and tomato paste and continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring, to cook off the rawness. Stir in the yam, potatoes and red pepper, then add the tomatoes and season with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Pour in the stocks and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until the yam and potatoes are tender.
To finish, stir through the white crab meat and spring onion greens, then squeeze in the lime juice for freshness. Ladle into warm bowls and serve immediately.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 spring onions, finely chopped, white and green parts separated
- 1 fennel bulb, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ Scotch bonnet chilli, finely diced
- 1 thyme sprig, leaves picked
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 100g yam, diced
- 5 new potatoes, diced
- 1 small red pepper, de-seeded and diced
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 500ml shellfish stock
- 500ml chicken stock
- 350g white crab meat
- juice of 1 lime
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper