Viche de Pescado Manabita

Ingredients

• 800 g firm white fish steaks such as corvina or snapper
• Juice of 1 lime
• 200 g raw peanuts, toasted and finely ground
• 3 tbsp annatto-infused oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 litres fish stock or water
• 300 g cassava, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 corn cobs, cut into 3 cm rounds
• 300 g pumpkin, peeled and cubed
• 200 g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 150 g podded broad beans
• 1 green plantain, peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 ripe plantain, peeled and sliced
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 1 large bunch coriander, chopped
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Before you cook

• Season the fish steaks with the lime juice, half the salt and half the cumin, then set them aside.
• Toast the peanuts in a dry pan until fragrant, let them cool, then grind them to a fine powder.
• Peel and chop the cassava, pumpkin and sweet potato, keeping them in separate bowls.
• Cut the corn cobs into three centimetre rounds.
• Peel the green plantain and grate it coarsely, then peel and slice the ripe plantain.
• Chop the onion, pepper and garlic.

Steps

1. Heat the annatto oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Cook the onion, red pepper and garlic for eight minutes until soft and orange.
3. Stir in the remaining cumin and cook for one minute.
4. Pour in the fish stock and bring it to a steady simmer.
5. Add the cassava chunks and the corn rounds and cook for twelve minutes.
6. Add the pumpkin, the sweet potato and the broad beans and cook for ten minutes.
7. Stir the grated green plantain into a mugful of the hot broth, then pour it back into the pot.
8. Simmer for five minutes, stirring often, until the soup visibly thickens.
9. Whisk the ground peanuts with two ladles of hot broth in a bowl until smooth with no lumps.
10. Pour the peanut mixture into the pot and stir it through.
11. Simmer gently for eight minutes, stirring regularly so the peanuts do not catch on the base.
12. Add the sliced ripe plantain and the coconut milk and cook for five minutes.
13. Season with the remaining salt and the black pepper.
14. Lay the fish steaks on the surface, cover the pot and poach them for eight minutes until they flake.
15. Fold through most of the coriander, taking care not to break up the fish.
16. Ladle into deep bowls, finish with the last of the coriander and serve with lime wedges.