Shrimp and Corn Soup

Easy soup with shrimp and corn based on chicken broth. Chicken broth, if you want you can replace it with fish broth or even use a bouillon cube, but broth, fresh or frozen is certainly preferable. The soup is made quickly enough, the most tedious thing is to peel the shrimp and remove the black veins, you will have to make some fuss with it.

⏱ Cooking time — 65 minutes overall. Includes 30 minutes of preparation and cooking + 35 minutes unattended.

🥣 Ingredients

🍽 For 4-5 servings:

• 500 g (1,1 lb) of freshly frozen shrimp (tails only, no heads)
• 1.5 l of chicken broth (fish or vegetable broth will do as well, in a pinch – use a stock cube and water)
• 50g (1,8 oz) of unsalted butter
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1.5 tsp. paprika
• 1 tin of canned corn (400 g (1 lb) , drain liquid)
• salt, black pepper
• Green onions, cilantro, chili pepper, lemon/lime (optional, for serving)

🔪 Step by step directions

Pour the broth into a saucepan and place over low heat.

Peel the shrimp from the shell, put the shells aside, do not throw them away.

If you have shrimp with the head (which is preferable, for a richer flavor) – the heads also set aside and do not throw away.

Remove the black veins from the shrimp. To do this, make an incision along the length of the back, pick up the vein with the tip of the knife and gently pull with your fingers. Few people know that in addition to the back side, there is such a vein on the inside, the “belly” side. It, too, must be removed.

If you don’t remove the veins, nothing bad will happen, but it’s not cool.

In a large frying pan, melt 50 g (1,8 oz) of butter and place the cleaned shrimp in a single layer. If they don’t fit, cook in batches.

Fry for about 2 minutes over low heat, turn over and fry for another minute. Transfer cooked shrimp to a plate.

Place shrimp shells in the pan and fry over low heat. In the meantime, finely chop celery and onion and add to the pan, stir. Finely chop the garlic and add to the same. Stir again and stir-fry for about a minute, until garlic aroma appears.

If slicing is difficult and time-consuming, it is preferable to chop the onion, celery and garlic beforehand and only then begin the frying process.

Pour 1 ladle of broth into the pan. Use a spatula to scrape off anything that has roasted from the bottom of the pan. Carefully transfer the contents of the pan to the pan with the broth and pour in 1.5 tsp of paprika. Bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Strain the broth through a sieve, discard the vegetables and shrimp shells.

Pour back into the pot, add the corn and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper, and add more salt if needed.

Pour the soup into bowls, add the shrimp and garnish with cilantro leaves, finely chopped green onions and chili peppers (all together or separately). Or serve separately with lemon slices so that everyone can season the soup to their liking.