This vegan Matamoros style seafood stew is a spicy, tangy, and hearty stew of oyster mushrooms, chickpeas, hearts of palm, and corn simmered in a chile-tomato broth. It is served with chopped cilantro, a splash of lime juice, and tostadas.
This stew is somewhat similar to the caldo de siete mares, which is a classic Mexican seafood soup. This version besides being vegan, is delicious and full of a wide variety of vegetables. It gets its fishiness from dulse flakes, which are sun-dried seaweed flakes rich in fiber, protein, vitamin B12, and omega-3.
(Matamoros is a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is a border town with Brownsville, TX and it is located 28 miles from the coast of the gulf of Mexico.)
Our Vegan Mexico Project
This recipe is part of an amazing project called Our Vegan Mexico, where 32 talented cooks will be showcasing, right here on Dora’s Table, 32 vegan Mexican recipes. Each recipe will be representing one state of the Mexican union.
With this project, I am hoping to encourage the Mexican community in the U.S., and the people of my country to take a chance and make the change to a plant-based diet. This recipe, which is representing the state of Tamaulipas, is the creation of the talented chef Eddie Garza from @theeddiegarza and here he is sharing his story with us.
Eddie’s Story:
Every November I celebrate my veganiversary. This year, I’m celebrating my Sweet Sixteen! It’s been an amazing journey.
I was born and raised in the South Texas border town of Brownsville, right across the Rio Grande River from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. My hometown slogan is “On the border, by the Sea.” And as the slogan suggests, Mexican style seafood a big part of the culture. Unfortunately, chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease caused by obesity is also a big part of the culture.
Like many of my classmates, I was a chubby kid. And every year I got bigger and bigger. By the time I finished high school, I weighed close to 250 pounds. For a 5’7” 18 year-old, that’s a lot. But it didn’t stop there. I finally maxed out at 310 pounds and I was always sick and injured (because my ankles couldn’t keep up with my rapid weight gain). I hit my rock bottom when I was diagnosed as prediabetic right after college.
Thankfully, things turned around for me after meeting a new friend who taught me how to feed myself better. I began eating less of the fatty meat-centric meals that were harming my body and eating more fruits and vegetables. After 5 years of trying to go fully vegan, I finally did it. And I lost 150 pounds along the way. Now, 16 years later, I feel better than ever! And what’s really amazing is that I still get to enjoy all the same flavors I loved growing up on the SoTex-Mex border in a healthy plant-based way.
Today, I’m delighted to share a veganized version of one of our fall family favorites. It’s a Matamoros style seafood stew that features hearts of palms, oyster mushrooms, and chickpeas instead of sea animals. What gives this lip-smacking stew it’s sea-like flavor is dulse seaweed, which I love using for all my plant-based seafood dishes. I hope you love it as much as I do. ¡Buen provecho!
The Recipe: Matamoros Style Seafood Stew
- If you can’t find dulse flakes, you can use ground up nori seaweed.
- Potatoes make a great addition to this!
- You can also add zucchini or chayote.
- Any mushroom would do, but preferably try to find oyster mushrooms.
- Serve with tostadas.
Matamoros Style Seafood Stew
Ingredients
- 8 Dried guajillo chiles, soaked, seeded and chopped
- 2 tbsp. Vegetable oil divided
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- ½ tbsp. Dried Mexican oregano
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ½ tsp. Black pepper
- 2 tsp. Ground cumin
- 2 tsp. Ancho chile powder
- 1 tsp. Chipotle powder
- 2 tbsp. Dulse flakes
- 4-5 Roma tomatoes roasted and peeled
- 8 ounces Tomato sauce
- 2 Carrots diced medium
- 1 Medium onion diced medium
- 3 Stalks celery diced medium
- 8 ounces Oyster mushrooms separated
- 4 cups Vegetable stock
- 14 ounces Hearts of palm, half diced in rings, half julienned
- 4 ears Fresh corn on the cob broken into halves
- 1 ½ cups Chickpeas, cooked
- ½ cup Cilantro, chopped (garnish)
- Lime wedges (garnish)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large soup pot, and sauté the garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, cumin, ancho chile powder, chipotle powder, and dulse flakes for 3 minutes. Add the rehydrated guajillo chiles, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Purée the mix (the soup base) with an immersion blender (or in batches with a conventional blender). Transfer the soup base to a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat and sauté the carrots, onions, celery and mushrooms for 4 minutes. Return the soup base to the pot. Add the vegetable stock, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the hearts of palm, corn on the cob and chickpeas. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Serve hot, garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.
Notes
- If you can’t find dulse flakes, you can use ground up nori seaweed.
- Potatoes make a great addition to this!
- You can also add zucchini or chayote.
- Any mushroom would do, but preferably try to find oyster mushrooms.
- Serve with tostadas.
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