Seafood Stew with Hominy and Warm Spices

Ingredients

% cup (115 g) uncooked hominy

Kosher salt

8 ounces (225 g) shell-on shrimp, preferably wild-caught

Extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups (720 ml) chicken broth or vegetable broth, homemade or low-sodium store-bought, or water

2 teaspoons smoked paprika, sweet or hot

½ teaspoon ground cumin

I teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of saffron threads

½ cup (75 g) thinly sliced onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

Big pinch of dried chile flakes

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine

1 pound (450 g) mussels, rinsed and debearded

8 ounces (225 g) firm but flaky white-fleshed fish, such as cod, halibut, ling cod, or hake, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup (15 g) roughly chopped fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley

Directions

The night before you want to make the stew, put the hominy in a bowl and cover with cool water by a couple of inches. Soak overnight.

Drain the hominy, put it in a medium saucepan, and add water to cover by 3 inches (7.5 cm) and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until fully tender and the kernels are starting to "explode" a bit, about 1 hour. Drain well and set aside.

Peel and devein the shrimp, saving the shells and keeping the shrimp in the fridge (if you have the fishmonger peel them, ask them to give you the shells).

To make a quick shrimp stock, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add a glug of olive oil and the shrimp shells and toast them up for a good 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the broth and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, then strain the stock to remove the solids and return it to the saucepan.

Combine the smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, ground ginger, and saffron in a little bowl and set aside.

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large pot, such as a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fresh ginger. Cook, stirring and scraping, until the onion is soft and fragrant but not at all browned, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and chile flakes and cook another minute or so, making sure nothing browns.

Add the tomato paste and the smoked paprika mixture and cook, stirring and scraping, until the tomato paste starts to toast and darken a bit and the spices smell fantastic, another 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the wine and simmer until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high, add the mussels, and cover the pot. Steam the mussels, shaking the pot every few seconds, until they are all open; this should take 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the mussels. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer all the opened mussels to a bowl and set aside. If a few are still closed, cook them for another minute or so; discard any stubborn ones that refuse to open.

Add the shrimp stock and the cooked hominy to the pot. Adjust the heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer until the hominy is plump and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chunks of fish and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the shrimp and cook, uncovered so you can see what's happening, until the fish and shrimp are opaque. It's okay if the fish starts to flake apart a bit, that's the idea.

Add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and taste the broth. Adjust with black pepper and more salt, chile flakes, and/or lemon juice until the flavor is nice and bright. Return the mussels to the pot, shower with the cilantro, and serve in big bowls, with an extra bowl at the table for the empty mussel shells.

Notes

Chewy but tender, hominy adds great body to this brothy stew. The kernels contribute a tiny bit of starch, which thickens the liquid just the right amount, and they readily absorb the warm, Moroccan-inspired palette of spices. The recipe calls for cooking the hominy before adding it to the stew, so be sure to plan ahead for that, as hominy requires some soaking and long cooking to get it to just the right consistency. As for the seafood, use what looks best at your market, as long as you include the shrimp, whose shells produce a flavorful broth. As with all fish stews, this one would love to be served with a big slice of grilled bread brushed with olive oil and rubbed with garlic or slathered with Turmeric Mayo (page 315). -Serves 4

Add the kernels cut from one or two ears of sweet corn when you add the shrimp.