Parihuela Peruana or Parihuela Soup is a Peruvian Seafood Soup filled with a variation of seafood, like clams, mussels, crab, shrimps, squid, and whole or firm chunks of fish, swimming in a savory broth of heavenly deliciousness!

Parihuela Peruana or Parihuela Soup served in a large bowl and topped with lime wedges.

Peruvian cuisine is known for many incredible savory dishes and Parihuela is absolutely no exception!

So if you love seafood but have yet to try this heavenly dish, keep reading. Learn how quick and incredibly simple it is to make this amazing recipe from the comfort of your home. Done in under 30 minutes!

Undoubtedly, Parihuela Soup is insatiably delicious and always over-delivers on flavor!

Parihuela Peruana or Parihuela Soup cooking in a large pot.

Origin

Originating from coastal fishing communities, parihuela, became a traditional soup served to fishermen after a long day out at sea.

Its signature flavor derives from three Peruvian peppers. Ají panca, ají mirasol and the spicy ají amarillo pepper. However, if spicy is not your thing, you can certainly adjust the spiciness to your liking.

So yes, parihuela is a spicy soup but you can adjust it to your taste. Control spiciness by adding more or less ají Amarillo pepper than is suggested below in the recipe card.

Just like the peppers, this soup’s condiments and spices are uniquely Peruvian. Meaning, to make an authentic Parihuela you will want to include other Peruvian ingredients.

Most of these ingredients can easily be found in the Latin section of your local supermarket or Latin specialty store. Nowadays, you can even order most particular ingredients online.

However, sometimes even with all these options, certain items may still be hard to acquire. So as with most recipes, there are always substitutes that can be used to create and mirror a traditional recipe.

Traditional Ingredients and Substitutes

Besides the variety of shellfish, used in a Parihuela Peruana, some authentic ingredients will be best if at all possible. Otherwise, you can substitute with these other ingredients in place of authentic ingredients.

Ají Panca Paste	ground or dry pasilla pepper or ancho chile powder or paste, achiote paste
Ají Mirasol Paste	can be excluded if need be
Ají Amarillo Paste	habanero or scotch bonnet pepper
Jugo de Kion (Ginger juice)	fresh grated ginger or ground ginger
Chicha de Jora (Corn beer)	white wine or light beer
Yuyo (Seaweed)	can be excluded completely

Below is a full list of all the ingredients.

Ingredients for Parihuela Peruana

a bass, snapper or cod fish
shrimps
octopus or squid or both
crab of your liking or whichever is available to you
clams
mussels
fish stock
garlic
tomatoes
red onion

tomato paste
oil
lime
fresh cilantro
ají panca paste
ají mirasol paste
ají amarillo paste
jugo de kion (Ginger juice)
chicha de jora (Corn beer)
yuyo (seaweed) optional
salt and pepper

Some Key Points to Keep in Mind

If you cannot find certain shellfish in your area, consider buying a frozen seafood mix. You can usually find frozen 1-2 pound bags in the frozen seafood section of the supermarket.
If you do not like certain shellfish, simply exclude them from the recipe.
If you use octopus in this recipe, you will have to make sure to precook before adding.
If you use squid, make sure to clean first, cut body into rings and leave tentacles whole.
For shrimps, you can either leave on or remove shells.
If using a whole fish such as bass or snapper, you can cut the head off fish and use it to make a fish stock for this recipe.
If deshelling shrimps, save shells and make a quick shrimp stock to use in this recipe.
If using both a whole fish and deshelling shrimps, use both fish head and shells to make a stock.

Using Octopus in this Recipe?

If you would like to use octopus in this recipe, remember to either buy already cooked octopus, or if raw, make sure to cook ahead of time before adding to this recipe as it will need to tenderize.

How to Cook a Raw Octopus for Parihuela Soup

Buy a small octopus from fish market and have them remove the eyes and beak for you.
In a medium or large pot, add enough water a few inches from the top over medium heat. Allow water to come to a boil.
While water is heating, rinse octopus under cool water.
Lay octopus on a cutting board and pound a little bit with a mallet.
Once the water has come to a boil, carefully add the octopus to pot.
Cook for 1 hour.
Remove octopus and allow to cool for 30 minutes to an hour.
Slice tentacles thinly on the diagonal. (Slice however much you would like to use in this recipe, freeze the rest in a freezer-safe bag or container)
Now it is ready to be used in this recipe.

How to Make Parihuela Peruana

Seafood in mixing bowls for the Parihuela Soup.

Begin by gathering all your ingredients together.
Rinse and chop tomatoes. Rinse and chop cilantro. Chop onion and garlic. Set all aside.
Rinse all seafood. After rinsing all the seafood, place it in your refrigerator, until ready to use.

Note: If using shrimps, decide whether you want to keep shells on or remove them. (This part is personal preference) Either way, make sure to devein shrimps.

In a large pot, over medium heat, add about 2 tablespoons of oil and add the chopped onion. Saute for 1 minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes and stir with onions. Cook for another minute.

Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the ají panca, ají mirasol and the ají amarillo pepper paste. Stir and cook for a few seconds.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the fish and crab.
Add the fish stock, chicha de jora (beer) and jugo de kion (ginger juice or fresh ginger).
Stir all together and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Note: If using fish that is not firm, remove it from the pot after it is cooked through and set aside. This is so the fish does not completely disintegrate into the soup.

After cooking for 10-15 minutes, add the cooked octopus (if using), squid and shrimps. Stir seafood into soup and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes add the mussels and clams. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
Stir in the chopped cilantro.

In a small bowl, add 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch and a few tablespoons of water to form a slurry.

Slowly add a little bit of the cornstarch (slurry) to the pot to thicken soup to your liking.
Note: If you needed to remove fish from pot, return to pot now.
Soup is done.