Encebollado de pescado – Ecuadorian fish soup with lime pickled onions
Encebollado de pescado is one of my favorite soups, the name is hard to translate, and literally it could be translated as oniony fish soup. Encebollado is made with fresh tuna, yuca or cassava root, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, spices and is served with curtido or pickled onions and tomatoes on top or mixed in with the soup. The pickled or lime marinated red onions are what give it the name “encebollado”. It is a typical soup from the coastal region in Ecuador.
This Ecuadorian tuna fish soup is very versatile and can be served for lunch, dinner and even breakfast or brunch. In fact it is known as the best hangover cure (like so many other Ecuadorian dishes); and restaurants that specialize in encebollado begin serving it in the early morning.
{Encebollado de pescado} Ecuadorian tuna fish soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh tuna albacore or similar
- 1 lb yuca or cassava fresh or frozen
- 2 tbs sunflower oil
- 2 tomatoes diced
- ½ red onion diced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 8 cups of water
- 5 cilantro sprigs
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil on medium heat to make a refrito with diced onion, tomato, cumin, chili powder and salt.
- Add the water and cilantro springs, bring to a boil.
- Add the tuna and cook for until the tuna is fully cooked, about 15 minutes.
- Drain the tuna and keep the broth to cook the yuca.
- Separate or break the tuna into small to medium size pieces.
- Bring the tuna broth to a boil and add the yucas, cook until tender but firm, about 30-40 minutes for the frozen yuca.
- Take the yuca from the broth, remove the strings and cut into bite size chunks.
- Add the yuca chunks and tuna pieces to the broth, taste and add salt if needed.
- Re-warm the soup if necessary and serve topped with a good amount of pickled onion and tomato salsa, if desired can also be served with chifles or plantain chips, tostado corn nuts, avocado slices and extra lime slices.
Notes
Yuca or cassava root is widely used in South America. It is difficult to find good quality fresh yuca in the most parts of the US. I was able to get some decent yucas at the Fiesta store when we lived in Austin. The problem here is that when you buy the roots you don’t really know if the yuca inside is going to be good. While shopping at Fiesta one day I learned that the best way was to break the ends of the yuca roots off and check the yuca before buying it (the yuca should be completely white, any signs of brown lines or spots or dryness in the inside indicate that it isn’t good). However, while you could get away with this at Fiesta where they had huge amounts of yuca and everyone did this. I don’t think this could be done at places like Whole Foods that have a small section of 10 yuca roots.
The solution is that now you can also buy it frozen from specialty Latin grocers or even online, which guarantees a minimum level of quality. However, anyone who tastes real fresh yuca in South America will tell you there is a significant difference.
If you are lucky enough to get fresh yuca it is important to peel it very well. There is a thin layer, almost pinkish, between the brown exterior and the white interior, that is toxic (no need to worry I have never heard of anyone getting sick from yuca) and should be removed.
Yuca is usually prepared by boiling it, just like potatoes. It is cooked once it is soft but still slightly firm inside. The middle part of the yuca roots have string like membranes that should be removed either before cooking or after (sometimes it is easier to remove them after they are cooked). In Ecuador there are different cooking times for yuca roots that are completely ripe and yucas that are younger.
I’m guessing that most of the roots found in the US are probably completely if not overly ripe. In Ecuador, we use yucas in a variety of soups, served plain with salt as a side dish or with sauces on top. They can also be fried, grated, and even made into flour and starch for baking. I’ve also had them in dessert recipes, but that isn’t as common as having them in savory dishes.
I prepared the encebollado with frozen yuca this time, but have a picture of the fresh yuca from a previous time I made this soup. Also, like most South American and Ecuadorian dishes the recipe varies from one city to another and even from one household to another. I had the soup before with additional vegetables such as potatoes and corn, but the essential ingredients are the tuna, yuca and the pickled onions on the top.
Preparation photos for encebollado fish soup:
If there is any dish that personifies Ecuador its encabollado. This is a coastal dish and man is it great. I had it from a street vendor once and my dad forced me to eat it and I was scared too death that I was going to get sick. Man, am I happy that I had it. It was so delicious!
Finally! A really good encebollado recipe! Thank you so much I’ve been missing this since I came home from ecuador a year ago. It tastes a bit different from the street vendor who sold it to me for 1.25 every morning for two years but I love it! Thank you again!
Great recipe! Thank you Laylita. Tuna was a bit expensive so I substituted with mahi mahi. Seemed to work just as well! Enjoy! :o)
I used to live in Ecuador. Even though I have not eaten in nearly ten years, encebollado is still the best thing I have ever eaten. I can’t wait to try the recipe. Do you have a good recipe for chifle?
Here’s a link to the chifle recipe: https://www.laylita.com/recipes/2008/05/31/chifles-or-fried-green-banana-chips/
I’ll try this also…..my husband loves it …. at the restaurant….it seems to be very easy to make.
I made this with salmon instead of tuna for my friend from Machala. I knew it was a hit when all he said was mmm…mmm….mmm in between each bite. I’ve made arroz con pollo and ceviche for him before, but he said this was the closest thing to home he’s tasted so far. Thanks for the great website and keep the recipes coming!
Hi, Laylita! Thanks so much for posting such helpful (and beautiful pictures!) recipes for people such as myself, who have inarticulate Ecuadorian partners who constantly crave food from your country. With your help, I have been able to reconstruct encebollado, guatita, pan de yuca, etc with virtually no knowledge of Ecuadorian cuisine. I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of bread they serve encebollado (de atun) with in the streets of Guayaquil. He is, once again, looking for it, but can give me no further explanation other than it is cheap and looks somewhat like a rectangular-ish croissant. Thanks so much!
My GF from Equador made this for me, and I was apprehensive at first, but then I tried it and loved it. The salsa makes the dish!
What nice recipes! I tried them and loved them, so thanks. Doesn’t it need some pepper – cayenne, black, chili? I can see that these are flexible recipes, and can probably deal with some changes and substitutions. My Dominican co-worker makes encebollado too, and she uses meat instead of fish.
The recipe does call for chili powder (or a type of pepper powder that we call aji peruano in Ecuador).
Ahora si muniequita linda. Le toca a Ud. hacerlo e invitarme. Espero estes muy bien y saludos a la familia.. Muuuaahhhh.. Napo.