Peru Food Recipe: Chupe de Camarones - Shrimp Soup

The Peruvian food and gastronomy is well known for the delicious recipes with seafood, the Peruvian Chupe de Camarones (Shrimp Soup) is a clear example of this.  This delicious soup is perfect for a big meal on weekends, with all your friends and family because the best way to eat it is with a good company.

Peruvian dishes usually use different kind of peppers for achieving the distinctive taste, you might try them without the authentic spices and peppers, but we strongly recommend using the true Peruvian ingredients for the chupe de camarones.

As a final advice, we recommend cleaning well all the shrimps you will use, don´t leave them with the head shell since the shrimp has part of the intestines there. Also, you may add the vegetables you prefer to the soup. Try out this recipe, it will bring the Peru food right to your dining table. 

Ingredients (6portions)

• 35 oz. of shrimps
• 17 oz. potatoes (Yellow potatoes are better for this recipe)
• 1 cup of lentejon (Lentils)
• ¼ cup of rice
• 5 fl oz. of evaporated milk
• 1 red onion
• 1 tablespoon of aji panca paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste
• 2 tablespoon of oil
• 1 egg per serving (In this case we are considering 6 portion)
• 5 oz. of fresh cheese
• 1 tablespoon of ground oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Clean the shrimps and keep apart. Also, on another bowl, keep the “coral” which is the orange liquid that comes out of the shrimps head when you squeeze them gently. Add a bit of water to the coral and strain them, so there are no shrimp shells left.
2. Cut the red onion into small cubes and keep it apart. Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium cubes, keep them apart on another bowl.
3. On a pot, warm some oil with high heat and fry the onion, the garlic paste, the aji panca, salt and pepper.
4. Once the onion seems transparent, add the “corals” from the shrimps previously cleaned. Stir a bit.
5. Add 2 liters of water to the pot preparation. Mix well all the ingredients and keep the high heat.
6. When the water starts boiling, add the rice and the lentejon. Stir well the ingredients and keep the high heat.
7. After a few minutes, when the lentejon are a bit soft (Half cooked) add the potatoes. Let them boil together for a couple of minutes and check them from time to time.
8. When the potatoes are soft, add the already cleaned shrimps to the preparation and low the heat.
9. Wait 2 minutes and then add some fresh cheese chopped in small cubes. Add the eggs scrambled and the ground oregano. Stir everything together.
10. After 1 minute the cheese had melt and the eggs are cooked, add the evaporated milk and integrate all the ingredients together. It’s ready to serve and enjoy the Peruvian Chupe de Camarones.