Caldo de Siete Mares
Caldo de Siete Mares means “soup of the seven seas,” and comes with a wide variety of different seafoods. We made a version with some unique all-local seafoods sourced from San Diego commercial fishing families, including Kellet’s Whelk (a marine snail), Sea Cucumber, and local rockfish.
Removing stems and seeds from dried chile pods.
Cutting Sea Cucumber (background) and Kellet’s Whelk meat (foreground) into bite-sized pieces.
Ingredients
1 pound local rockfish
4 ounces steamed Kellet’s Whelk, chopped
4 ounces pre-cooked sea cucumber, chopped (See “Preparing Sea Cucumber")
½ white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
4 dried New Mexico chiles or Guajillo chiles
4 chiles Guajillo
2 dried chile moritas
3 dried chiles de arbol
3 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cups Salsa de Chile Fresco or tomato sauce (preferably El Pato Hot or Regular)
4 cups fish stock (or substitute vegetable stock), divided
2 carrots, peeled and chopped bite-size
2 potatoes, washed and chopped (Reds or Yukon Golds)
1 chayote squash, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 stems of celery, chopped bite-size
3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon neutral oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Blending softened chiles, onion, garlic, and tomatoes together. All images by Jake Stein.
How to Prepare:
Strip stems and seeds from dried chiles, then add to a large pan with oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and stir occasionally to prevent burning.
Once contents of pan are fragrant and browning lightly, add 1 cup of stock and tomatoes and cover the lid to let everything soften.
After 3 minutes, remove pan from heat, add another cup of stock, and let cool.
Once cooled, add contents to a blender and add remaining stock. Blend thoroughly.
Return contents of blender to pan, add bay leaves, and restore heat to medium. Turn heat down to a simmer once bubbling.
Add potatoes, carrots, and chayote and cook for 7-10 minutes on low heat, until they are on the harder side of fork-tender.
Add bell pepper, then after 2 minutes, add seafood and gently stir to incorporate. Turn off the heat and let the raw fish cook in the heat of the caldo.
Serve immediately when fish is white and flaky. Garnish with cilantro and eat with tortillas (fresh corn if you can get it!).
