Caldu Pescador originates from the Kristang community of Malacca in Malaysia, with roots from the Portuguese Empire which conquered Malacca in the early sixteenth century. It is also known as the fisherman’s soup, prepared by fishermen using their daily catch. You can prepare it using your favourite seafood (shell fish, prawns, fish fillets) and make it into your own pot of favourite stew based on your individual preferences. I love mine with the simpler ingredients (less shell fish please) as I want to savour the soup and its burst of flavours from the base ingredients.
Ingredients:
- Onion: 1, peeled & quartered
- Garlic: 3 cloves, peeled & bruised
- Lemongrass: 2 stalks, outer leaves removed, trimmed & bruised
- Kaffir lime leaf: 4, crushed
- Water: 6 cups
- Clam (or mussel): 400g, scrubbed & cleaned
- Prawn: 300g (about 8), heads removed, deveined
- Squid: 200g, cleaned, skin removed, cut into rings
- Fish fillet: 200g, chunked
- Crab meat (optional): 100g
- Dried sour fruit: 1 piece
- Red chilli: 2, deseeded
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Ground white pepper: 1 tsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Fish sauce: 2 tbsp
- Coriander: 1 stalk, chopped
Method:
- Place onion, garlic, lemongrass & kaffir lime leaves in water. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 5min.
- Discard ingredients. Add clams, prawns, squid, fish fillet & crab meat including the juice from the seafood. Simmer 1min till cooked.
- Add dried sour fruit, red chilli, salt, ground white pepper, sugar & fish sauce. Stir to mix.
- Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with rice.
Disclaimers:
- This recipe was kindly adapted from Quentin Pereira’s Eurasian Heritage Cooking.
- I used the ready prepared clams for my stew so that it’s fuss free and easier to prepare ahead of time.
- I used only one big red chilli instead of four bird’s eye chilli as I did not want the stock to get too spicy for the boy. If you like it spicier, you can use bird’s eye chilli instead.
Serving:
6 – 8 persons as side dish