Vanuatu seafood soup

You know that something is good when you just can’t stop eating it. Forgetting that we were supposed to be only tasting, Votausi and I happily slurped the whole bowl of this simple yet soulful soup. It doesn’t need a premade fish stock — instead, it makes its own with the well-chosen types of seafood and can be thrown together very quickly. Tank yu tumas, Patrick (the singer) and Silas (Gordon Ramsay).

Serves 4

1 small fillet of snapper

1 cup cooked octopus, chopped into bite-sized pieces

6 mussels, cleaned

2 x 400g cans coconut cream

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 spring onions, chopped

¼ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bunch =watercress

1 stalk lemongrass, chopped

1 chilli, chopped

salt and pepper

2 eggplants, cut into cubes

1 cup manioke (cassava) flour for coating

½ cup virgin coconut oil

½ bunch coriander, to garnish

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the fish and chopped octopus — there should be enough water to cover the seafood, plus 1 extra cup. Simmer for 2 minutes, then add the mussels and cook for a further 3 minutes.

When the seafood is cooked, add the coconut cream and bring to the boil again before adding the tomatoes, spring onions, onion, garlic, pumpkin tips, lemongrass and chilli. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the lemongrass and season the soup with salt and pepper if necessary.

Coat the eggplant cubes with the manioke flour and fry in the coconut oil until browned and cooked through, but not soggy.

Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with coriander leaves. Place the eggplant cubes like croutons on top of the soup.