I’ve had this Coconut Lime Shrimp and Cod Chowder recipe on my mind for a while now. The ingredients (shrimp, lime, and coconut milk) reminded me of Thai tom yum soup that I absolutely love. I knew the ingredients would be a little more costly than my normal meals, but we all need a treat once in a while. Plus I needed a break from the usual beef and chicken. So after a little careful budgeting, I finally get to make my first seafood chowder. Whoohoo!
I’m not usually all that big on soup. Most soups, I find, are way too light to be eaten as a meal and tend to leave you starving just a few hours after you’ve had your last bite, if not down right immediately after. But this Coconut Lime Shrimp and Cod Chowder, despite being a seemingly light meal, is so chock full of fish and seafood, it won’t let you down quite so quickly…
The Ingredients
The seafood for this recipe was pretty splurgy for me. I spent $18.34 on the cod and $25.98 for the shrimp (peeled and deveined, but still had the tails on), for a total of $44.32. That’s not counting the rest of the ingredients, but what I needed to buy wasn’t expensive, especially compared to the seafood. Yes, it was for 6 servings worth of seafood chowder, but still… Next time I will scale it down to 2-3 servings since it’s just the 2 of us, this soup is very filling, and reheating seafood doesn’t usually have the greatest results.
One last note about the tomatoes: I used 4 small instead of 2 large. My local grocery store doesn’t sell large tomatoes on the vine, and I find they taste so much better than the larger tomatoes they carry.
The Process
This recipe took a total of 35 minutes from start to finish, just a touch over the 35 minutes listed. The prep work was what took me a little longer (13 minutes instead of the 10 listed). I think that was likely because I had to remove the tails from the shrimp.
Buying peeled and deveined shrimp is such a timesaver that I’m always willing to pay a little more for. They still had the tails on, though, but they’re quick and easy to remove. Just pinch the portion of the shell that’s still attached to the shrimp and lightly tug. The shell and tail should come right off, and you won’t lose any of the meat like you would if you cut off that portion.
One thing I would change is how long I cooked the chowder at Step 3. I (foolishly) decided to cook it for the maximum time listed of 10 minutes. I really should have tested things at the 8-minute minimum, but I thought everything looked underdone. Silly me. I think the shrimp was a tad overdone after 10 minutes. It wasn’t terrible or the author’s fault, so live and learn.
Otherwise, I found this seafood chowder recipe very easy to follow. The author breaks the ingredients list up especially well, and each step is grouped/listed as it’s called for in the directions. Just be careful when you stir the soup once you’ve added the cod because it flakes apart very easily.
