Traditional Ecuadorian encebollado: the fresh tuna soup with cassava, lime-pickled red onion and cilantro

Encebollado is Ecuador's unofficial national dish, the one eaten early in the morning at the stalls of Guayaquil and Manta, the declared hangover remedy and the Sunday lunch of the whole coast. It comes from the fishermen of the shore, who cooked freshly caught tuna with cassava and covered it with raw onion pickled in lime, the encebollado of the name.

The broth is light, made of tomato, onion, cumin and cilantro, in which fresh tuna, albacore or bonito, cooks in large pieces and is then flaked coarsely. Cassava cooked in the same broth gives body and sweetness. On top goes thinly sliced red onion, pickled in lime and salt until pink and crisp, and plenty of fresh cilantro.

On the table go lime, hot sauce, chifles, the thin fried slices of green plantain, and popcorn or bread to thicken. Everyone builds their own bowl, and that is how Ecuador starts the day.

Recipe card

• Origin: Coastal Ecuador, Guayaquil and Manta
• Category: Fish soup, breakfast or main course
• Difficulty: Easy
• Prep time: 25 minutes
• Cooking time: 45 minutes
• Serves: 6

Ingredients — soup

• 1 kg fresh tuna (albacore or bonito) in steaks or large pieces
• 800 g cassava, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground annatto (achiote)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, stems chopped and leaves reserved
• 2 liters water
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients — pickled onion and table

• 2 red onions, very thinly sliced
• Juice of 3 limes
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Cilantro leaves
• Chifles (green plantain chips) or popcorn
• Lime wedges and hot sauce

Method

1. Soak the red onion in iced salted water for 10 minutes, drain and mix with the lime juice, diced tomato and salt. Keep in the fridge for 30 minutes, until pink.
2. In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion, bell pepper and garlic for 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomato, cumin, annatto and cilantro stems and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the water, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the cassava and cook for 20 minutes, until almost tender.
5. Add the tuna and cook over low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until opaque and firm.
6. Remove the tuna, flake into large pieces, discarding skin and bones, and return to the pot. Adjust the salt.
7. Serve in deep bowls with the pickled onion on top, cilantro leaves, and the chifles, lime and hot sauce on the side.

Tips and variations

• Fresh tuna is traditional; without it, mackerel, bonito or even mahi-mahi work.
• Do not overcook the tuna: it flakes apart and turns to crumbs.
• Homemade chifles: green plantain in paper-thin slices fried in hot oil and salted.
• Encebollado mixto adds shrimp alongside the tuna.
• The broth is better the next day; the pickled onion is always fresh.
• A spoonful of mustard in the pickled onion is the Manta version.
• Serve with a cold beer or a passion fruit juice, as at the stalls.

Encebollado is the breakfast of those who live on Ecuador's Pacific shore: tuna broth, cassava and a mountain of lime-pickled onion. Make it and understand why it cures everything.