Flavorful Jamaican conch soup
16.1.21
| Recipe by Renz
A delicious soup that would easily transport you to the Caribbean with its
flavor. This conch soup is packed with not just conch meat but also corn,
potatoes, carrots, and dumplings. The perfect soup option.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure here. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I feel like I'm becoming the girl with all the conch recipes.
I was gifted some conch by a friend and I just want to share all of the delicious ways we use it at home and across the Caribbean.
We have surely seen that it is a meat that can be used in a variety of ways. I've already shown you how to curry conch, along with having it as Jamaican-styled steamed conch and now as a soup.
If you are new to conch and eating it, I have an "about conch post" where I go into detail about what the meat is, what does conch tastes like, how long it will take to cook, and the different methods to tenderize this meat.
In the Caribbean soup is king. There is no season for it. In fact, Saturday is THE day for soup. And soup with just about anything.
We love a good hearty soup that can include one or multiple kinds of meat and a lot of provisions and dumplings.
The meats can vary from cow foot to beef and then just be plain vegetables.
This soup is no different. There is conch, pumpkins and potatoes, and corn and dumplings.
If you are looking for a conch chowder and came upon my recipe please note that this recipe is for soup.
Though they may have the same ingredients, the texture of a soup varies from a chowder. A chowder is chunkier and thicker and more like a "stew" (Not a Caribbean stew)
If you want to know how to make conch soup, then yes, keep reading.
I keep posting conch recipes and yet not telling you where is a good place to get it.
When I'm home in Tobago getting conch, we go directly to the fishermen where we get it fresh out of the shell.
In the US, there are no fishermen selling their catch from out the sea at the roadside.
Instead, here in Florida, I head to my Caribbean and Spanish supermarkets. It's usually by the butcher area on their display.
When you buy there, there is also the option for them to run it through their tenderizer machine for you. You can definitely make them do that if they offer.
If they do not tenderize, then you can check out my post on how to prepare conch meat, and choose the best method you want to tenderize.
Also, other seafood markets and even Asian supermarkets have it. You may sometimes even find frozen conch that they would have imported from the Bahamas.
I have three different methods of tenderizing.
Most of the time you are told to tenderize your conch with a meat mallet. You are told to "pong" it till it becomes like a chicken cutlet.
For this soup, since the conch is going to be boiled for a while, there's no need to pound it thin. We simply will be butterflying the conch meat and then cutting it into bite-sized chunks.
It will boil to tender by the time we are done making the soup.
Though we are starting out with just some conch in some water, by the end of this soup you would have made a flavorful broth as a base.
Whew. A long list isn't it? But definitely needed to get the full flavor of taste in this soup.
Just make sure you prepare all your vegetables and herbs as needed beforehand because it's really just a dump and go at different stages while the flavor boils and blends together.
This soup is basically building layers of flavor.
To start you want to make sure you clean the conch. I wash the conch, also called lambi, under running water. I rub my hand on it just to remove anything that might be stuck on it.
I then put it to soak in some water and lime juice for a bit. About 20 minutes.
I then drain the conch from that water and then go ahead and butterfly the conch.
I split each piece across and open it out to make it "butterflied", then cut those pieces into chunks.
Even when you butterfly a piece, sometimes the ends are still thicker, so you butterfly the end also.
You basically want to get the pieces of meat to be thin pieces and to be in sizes that will be easy to bite.
You want it thin enough so that you know it will cook and not disintegrate. And you also want people to know that they think they are chewing a piece of conch.
After you have gotten all cut up, rinse with some water then add some more lime juice, green seasoning, and salt.
Set that aside for about 10 minutes.
While the meat is resting, put water in a deep pot and bring it to a boil.
Then add the conch to the water along with garlic, bay leaf, and onion and let that boil for about 30 minutes until the conch meat is tender.
Once it's tender add 2 cups of water along with your potatoes, corn, and pumpkin. We will boil this until the pumpkin is tender.
You can also use squash here instead if you cannot find pumpkins.
While that boil is happening make the dumplings and set them aside. Any kind of dumplings will work. If you like flour, cornmeal or even cassava can be added.
Now we add the flavorings. More water was added to the soup along with the grace soup pack, thyme, dumplings, and hot pepper(s).
We are going to make this boil until the dumplings have floated to the top and are ready to eat.
You can taste for salt and black pepper here and adjust as needed.
Also, add the chopped scallions.
And you are ready to serve.
In total this soup takes about 2 hours to get ready. It's not a quick soup. The flavors have to be built.
Coconut milk: This is not a creamy soup. I have no coconut milk included. But if you want it to be a little creamier you can add in about a 1/2 cup of coconut milk when you are adding in the dumplings and other things.
Ground provision: You can switch out provisions or add additional ones. Variations can include green banana, yellow yam, christophene, okra, and sweet potato.
If you do decide to add additional ones remember the more starch in soups the thicker it would get, so you might need to add more water.
I think that seafood soups should be hot. I normally don't like very spicy food but seafood soups... I like it spicy.
If you don't like spicy at all, make sure to cut down the number of hot peppers you use. Use one instead. Or you can even just use hot sauce, if at all, which would allow you to better control the level of heat.
How do you like your conch soup? Let me know in the comments.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure here. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I feel like I'm becoming the girl with all the conch recipes.
I was gifted some conch by a friend and I just want to share all of the delicious ways we use it at home and across the Caribbean.
We have surely seen that it is a meat that can be used in a variety of ways. I've already shown you how to curry conch, along with having it as Jamaican-styled steamed conch and now as a soup.
If you are new to conch and eating it, I have an "about conch post" where I go into detail about what the meat is, what does conch tastes like, how long it will take to cook, and the different methods to tenderize this meat.
In the Caribbean soup is king. There is no season for it. In fact, Saturday is THE day for soup. And soup with just about anything.
We love a good hearty soup that can include one or multiple kinds of meat and a lot of provisions and dumplings.
The meats can vary from cow foot to beef and then just be plain vegetables.
This soup is no different. There is conch, pumpkins and potatoes, and corn and dumplings.
If you are looking for a conch chowder and came upon my recipe please note that this recipe is for soup.
Though they may have the same ingredients, the texture of a soup varies from a chowder. A chowder is chunkier and thicker and more like a "stew" (Not a Caribbean stew)
If you want to know how to make conch soup, then yes, keep reading.
Where can I get conch meat?
I keep posting conch recipes and yet not telling you where is a good place to get it.
When I'm home in Tobago getting conch, we go directly to the fishermen where we get it fresh out of the shell.
In the US, there are no fishermen selling their catch from out the sea at the roadside.
Instead, here in Florida, I head to my Caribbean and Spanish supermarkets. It's usually by the butcher area on their display.
When you buy there, there is also the option for them to run it through their tenderizer machine for you. You can definitely make them do that if they offer.
If they do not tenderize, then you can check out my post on how to prepare conch meat, and choose the best method you want to tenderize.
Also, other seafood markets and even Asian supermarkets have it. You may sometimes even find frozen conch that they would have imported from the Bahamas.
How do you make conch tender?
I have three different methods of tenderizing.
Most of the time you are told to tenderize your conch with a meat mallet. You are told to "pong" it till it becomes like a chicken cutlet.
For this soup, since the conch is going to be boiled for a while, there's no need to pound it thin. We simply will be butterflying the conch meat and then cutting it into bite-sized chunks.
It will boil to tender by the time we are done making the soup.
Though we are starting out with just some conch in some water, by the end of this soup you would have made a flavorful broth as a base.
Ingredients for conch soup
- Conch
- Water
- Onion
- Garlic
- Lime juice
- Green seasoning
- Fresh thyme
- Scotch bonnet peppers
- Scallion
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Grace pumpkin soup
- Pumpkin
- Carrots
- Potato
- Corn
- Bay leaves
- Dumplings: which would be all-purpose flour and water
Whew. A long list isn't it? But definitely needed to get the full flavor of taste in this soup.
Just make sure you prepare all your vegetables and herbs as needed beforehand because it's really just a dump and go at different stages while the flavor boils and blends together.
Preparing soup
This soup is basically building layers of flavor.
To start you want to make sure you clean the conch. I wash the conch, also called lambi, under running water. I rub my hand on it just to remove anything that might be stuck on it.
I then put it to soak in some water and lime juice for a bit. About 20 minutes.
I then drain the conch from that water and then go ahead and butterfly the conch.
I split each piece across and open it out to make it "butterflied", then cut those pieces into chunks.
Even when you butterfly a piece, sometimes the ends are still thicker, so you butterfly the end also.
You basically want to get the pieces of meat to be thin pieces and to be in sizes that will be easy to bite.
You want it thin enough so that you know it will cook and not disintegrate. And you also want people to know that they think they are chewing a piece of conch.
After you have gotten all cut up, rinse with some water then add some more lime juice, green seasoning, and salt.
Set that aside for about 10 minutes.
While the meat is resting, put water in a deep pot and bring it to a boil.
Then add the conch to the water along with garlic, bay leaf, and onion and let that boil for about 30 minutes until the conch meat is tender.
Once it's tender add 2 cups of water along with your potatoes, corn, and pumpkin. We will boil this until the pumpkin is tender.
You can also use squash here instead if you cannot find pumpkins.
While that boil is happening make the dumplings and set them aside. Any kind of dumplings will work. If you like flour, cornmeal or even cassava can be added.
Now we add the flavorings. More water was added to the soup along with the grace soup pack, thyme, dumplings, and hot pepper(s).
We are going to make this boil until the dumplings have floated to the top and are ready to eat.
You can taste for salt and black pepper here and adjust as needed.
Also, add the chopped scallions.
And you are ready to serve.
In total this soup takes about 2 hours to get ready. It's not a quick soup. The flavors have to be built.
Additions/Tips
Coconut milk: This is not a creamy soup. I have no coconut milk included. But if you want it to be a little creamier you can add in about a 1/2 cup of coconut milk when you are adding in the dumplings and other things.
Ground provision: You can switch out provisions or add additional ones. Variations can include green banana, yellow yam, christophene, okra, and sweet potato.
If you do decide to add additional ones remember the more starch in soups the thicker it would get, so you might need to add more water.
I think that seafood soups should be hot. I normally don't like very spicy food but seafood soups... I like it spicy.
If you don't like spicy at all, make sure to cut down the number of hot peppers you use. Use one instead. Or you can even just use hot sauce, if at all, which would allow you to better control the level of heat.
How do you like your conch soup? Let me know in the comments.
Here are some more Caribbean seafood recipes:
National Soup Swap Day 2021
Happy National Soup Swap Day! Today, I'm linking up with other bloggers for a virtual soup swap hosted by Kate's Recipe Box - and we're all sharing some tasty soup recipes to warm you up!
- Dill Pickle Soup from Kate's Recipe Box
- Alphabet Soup from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Dairy Free Cream of Asparagus Soup from Frugal & Fit
- Quick Vegetable Soup from Cheese Curd in Paradise
- Clean the Refrigerator Soup from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Roasted Garlic Soup with Potatoes, Kale, & Bacon from Savory Moments
- Cream of Mushroom Soup from Kathryn's Kitchen Blog
- 30 Minute Two Bean Tomato Soup from Blogghetti
- Vichyssoise from That Recipe
- Chicken and Black Bean Vegetable Soup from Palatable Pastime
- Potato and Spinach Soup from Magical Ingredients
- Copycat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
- Slow-Cooker Pasta Fagioli Soup from A Little Fish in the Kitchen
- Corn Chowder from House of Nash Eats
- Lobster Bisque from The Redhead Baker
- Bacon-Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder from The Spiffy Cookie
- Hong Kong Style Spam & Egg Macaroni Soup from Making Miracles
- Cauliflower Cheddar Soup from Devour Dinner
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup from Hostess at Heart
What a great soup with all the flavors of conch chowder, which I adore, but lighter .
ReplyDeleteNow I'm so curious. I've never had conch in soup before...but it sounds so delicious!
ReplyDeleteI've never had conch at all and I'm really intrigued! It reminds me of abalone I used to eat growing up. Sadly, it's no longer available. Gorgeous photos.
ReplyDelete