Cream Seafood Soup

Seafoods are sources of nutrients like strontium, iodine, and bromine which aren’t as abundant in terrestrial foods. These elements are highly water soluble and collect in runoff, ending up in the ocean and lakes. Specifically, mollusks like clams, oysters, and mussels can be very high in B12, zinc, strontium, selenium, bromine, and other B vitamins (seaweed can also be an option, although this recipe doesn’t contain any). As discussed in my book, Fuck Portion Control, lots of metabolic disease is caused by deficiencies of nutrients like these, and if you have metabolic disease but don’t consume seafoods (freshwater “seafood” is also good) it might be necessary to get them into your diet. Of course, many people don’t like the taste of seafood, but that is often because seafood can go bad very quickly, and sources of seafood like canned clams can be rancid, old, or even counterfeit, so one of the most important factors to enjoying seafood is getting high quality sources. Frozen is always acceptable and better than canned varieties, and cheap seafood often contains toxic preservatives and every effort must be taken to find good, high quality sources. This specific recipe contains tilapia and mussels, which tend to be widely available in the frozen seafood section of grocery stores, but many other varieties of fish and shellfish can be substituted. This is also not a chowder. I find chowder to usually be too fatty and overpower delicate seafood and vegetable flavors.

Cream Seafood Soup

2 yellow onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp peper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp dried thyme
4-5 medium red or gold potatoes, peeled, cubed small
4-5 carrots, peeled, cubed
1/4 cup spelt, einkorn, or kamut flour
1 quart water or high quality fish stock/broth
3 filets of tilapia, whole
1 package fresh or frozen mussels, roughly chopped and rinsed (you can use whole mussels if you like)
1 cup parsley or watercress, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream

In a large soup pot sauté onions and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes until onions begin to soften (do not brown the onions in this recipe). Add the salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, thyme, potatoes, and carrots, cover and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, careful not to significantly brown any of the vegetables (you can turn the heat down a little to prevent browning). Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, stir frequently as flour cooks, another 3-5 minutes. Add water, whole tilapia filets (they will break down during cooking), and mussels. Cover, bring to a low simmer, and let cook for an additional 15-20 minutes until carrots and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the chopped parsley or watercress. Allow to sit for 5-6 minutes then add cream. Serve with spelt baguette or other chewy, crusty bread.