Once you master this mixed seafood soup, you will never have to settle for seafood soups with subpar ingredients outside!
One of the things I love most about home cooking is how flexible it can be. You can go big with this recipe by using the freshest seafood (prawns, squid, fish, shellfish) from the wet market. I made this with simple frozen seafood and it was perfect for an easy weekday dinner.
With a few tweaks recommend below, I can serve up the same dish for the whole family. Here is how you can adapt the mixed seafood soup for everyone.
How to serve mixed seafood soup for babies & toddlers
- Make sure to clear babies of seafood allergies before serving.
- Use milder seafood such as prawns, fish slices, fish cake or fish ball.
- Use homemade broth and leave out salt, soy sauce and pepper.
- Make soup with tofu and vegetables for children and set aside a non-seafood portion.
- Serve soup over rice for older children.
Frugal adult-friendly variations & add-ons for hungry teenagers
- Top with coriander and spring onion.
- Add sliced meat for more protein.
- Serve with rice and sliced chilli padi or some sambal belacan in soy sauce! Yum!
Budget tips for mixed seafood soup
- Opt for frozen seafood. You can get individually frozen prawns, oysters, clams that taste fresh and delicious at a very affordable price at Sheng Shiong. As they thaw VERY quickly, I don’t recommend buying them online.
- Squid is best purchased fresh imho!
Busy day tips for mixed seafood soup
- Keep homemade frozen stock (ikan bilis or chicken) on hand to whip up quick soup dishes.
- Keep frozen seafood as a staple.
- Pair with stir-fried greens for a fast complete meal.
- Opt for stock cubes if you are pressed for time. They are perfectly fine.
This is a simple recipe I come back to again and again. You can even offer to bring it for a party and it will be a favourite with everyone!
It comes together with such humble ingredients and you can really stretch a modest grocery budget with this soup.
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Have fun cooking!
Mixed Seafood Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 200 g chinese romaine lettuce, about half pack ($1.33)
- 1.5 l soup stock (homemade ikan bilis) ($3.00)
- 12 frozen prawns, thawed ($3.57)
- 12 frozen oysters, thawed ($2.36)
- 1 box silken tofu, cut into cubes ($0.95)
- 1 tbsp shao xing wine, optional ($0.04)
- 1 tsp fish sauce ($0.02)
- pepper
- salt
Instructions
Preparation
- Remove tofu from box and cut into ½ inch cubes. Place in a shallow dish to drain excess liquid.
- Remove base of lettuce and rinse water to remove any soil or sand. Cut lettuce into smaller 1 inch pieces.
- Lightly marinate prawns with sprinkle of salt
Cooking
- Bring ikan bilis soup stock to a rolling boil.
- Add fish sauce and shao xing wine.
- Drain excess liquid from tofu and add tofu to boiling soup. Boil for 5 min to allow flavour to steep into the tofu.
- Gather all seafood. Add prawns, followed by clams, followed by oysters when the prawns are almost cooked.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. You can drizzle in some soy sauce for more umami flavour.
Notes
- Substitute homemade ikan bilis soup stock with 1.5L of water and 1 – 2 ikan bilis stock cube.
- For fussy eaters, serve seafood separately so that they can build their own bowl.
- Create your own mixed seafood soup by using your favourite types.
- Stretch the soup with glass noodles.
- Adding 1/4 cup of instant tom yum paste transforms this into a delicious tom yum goong. Add galangal, lemongrass and lime leafs to give a flavour boost.