Açorda de camarão (Portuguese bread soup with shrimp)

Açorda de camarão was my grandmother’s dish. She lived in the Alentejo, the homeland of all açordas, and when garlic and cilantro started simmering on her stove, the whole house knew what was coming: rustic bread transformed into a rich, savory stew crowned with sweet shrimp.

She taught me to make it side by side in her kitchen — peeling the shrimp, chopping the cilantro, soaking the bread — and now, living far away in the US, making it is my way of going home for an evening.

Açorda is beautifully flexible: some families make it with clams or salt cod, others keep it vegetarian with tomato or mushrooms. This is the shrimp version, the one I grew up with, finished the traditional way with egg yolks stirred in at the table.

Açorda de Camarão Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 30 minutes · Total: 50 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~266 per serving

Ingredients

• 14 oz shrimp meat (peeled)
• 1 rustic loaf, about 1¾ pounds
• 2 egg yolks
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 cups milk
• 1 seafood bouillon cube
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• Whole shrimp, as needed, for garnish
• Chopped cilantro, as needed
• Salt and chili pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cut the bread into small pieces and place them in a large bowl.
2. Bring the milk to a boil with the seafood bouillon, then pour it over the bread and let it soak.
3. In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat with the garlic, salt and chili pepper until fragrant.
4. Add the shrimp meat and cook through.
5. Adjust the seasoning, add the chopped cilantro and the brandy, then stir in the soaked (and drained) bread.
6. Stir until the açorda is homogeneous and creamy.
7. Separately, cook the whole shrimp in salted, chili-spiked water for the garnish.
8. Serve in a clay dish, topped with the peeled cooked shrimp, the egg yolks and more cilantro — stir the yolks in at the table.

Recipe Notes

• Açorda was born in the Alentejo; the bread-garlic-cilantro-olive oil base stays constant while the toppings travel — clams, cod, hake, even farinheira sausage.
• A dense, day-old country loaf gives the best texture.
• The egg yolks are gently cooked by the heat of the açorda when stirred in — use very fresh or pasteurized eggs.
• For a deeper seafood flavor, replace some of the milk with homemade shrimp-shell stock.