SEAFOOD SOUP FOR RAINY DAYS

Soup is great during the rainy days. So here’s a recipe for a seafood dish with homemade fish balls that’s made richer and creamier with pureed squash and butter.

This easy-to-prepare Yellow Seafood Soup is made with fresh shrimps, clams and crabs, but you can also add mussels, squids and oysters.

You can use either storebought fish/chicken stock or make your own stock at home. For the latter, a few ingredients are all you need: Simply simmer together over medium heat ginger, onion leeks, shallots, water, fish head ( lapu-lapu or grouper; or maya-maya or red grouper), and salt and pepper. Skim off any impurities from the top and strain.

For the homemade fish balls, chef Get Bautista Hao suggests using the white meat from lapu-lapu, maya-maya, tanigue (mackerel) or apahap (sea bass).

“Leftover fish balls can be used for other dishes, such as pancit, chopsuey or miso soup,” says Hao, who runs a private cooking and baking class. “Just store them in a clean container and freeze.”

This soup’s rich flavor comes from pureeing the squash, which thickens and enhances its sweetness. The heavy cream and butter add another flavor dimension when mixed into the soup.

“It’s a refreshing soup with a buttery taste,” says Hao. “The squash somehow offsets some of the fishy taste of the seafood.”

Yellow Seafood Soup

½ k squash, peeled and cut 1 c onion leek, cut into 1-inch thick pieces 1 c heavy cream ¼ k shrimps Crabs, steamed and cut in half ¼ k clams or mussels 1 c butter, salted ½ c bacon bits for garnish 2.5 to 3 liters of fish or chicken stock

Fish balls:

1 medium onion, minced Thumb-size ginger, peeled and sliced

¼ k fish fillet ( tilapia, lapulapu or maya-maya), flaked and mashed 1 egg, beaten 2 tbsp flour

—PHOTOS BY LYN RILLON Yellow Seafood Soup made creamier by pureed squash and butter

4 Remove cooked squash and puree in a blender with some stock. Then, return pureed squash to the stock pot.

7 Pour in heavy cream and onion leeks. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add fish sauce (optional). Bring to a boil. Add butter. Simmer. Transfer soup in a large bowl and garnish with bacon bits.

3 Using the same stock, stir in the squash and ginger. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

2 Place large pot with fish stock over high heat. Gently slide the fish balls and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until they float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to scoop them out of the stock. Set aside.

1 To make the fish ball, season fish with salt and pepper and add egg, flour and onion. Mix well. Using two spoons, shape fish mixture into balls.

5 Stir well. Add fish balls and shrimps.

6 Add crabs and clams.