Name: Cioppino
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1/4 cup olive oil; 1 medium onion, chopped fine; 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes; 1 green bell pepper, chopped; 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar; 1 1/2 cups dry white wine; 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled; 1 bay leaf; a 28-to 32-ounce can whole tomatoes including juice, puréed coarse; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 2 pounds live hard-shelled crabs; 12 small hard-shelled clams, scrubbed well; 1/2 pound medium shrimp, shelled, leaving tails and first joint intact; 1/2 pound sea scallops; 1 pound scrod or other white fish fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

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Cioppino is San Francisco's answer to bouillabaisse and, like that famous Provencal seafood soup, is made with a variety of the freshest fish possible. In San Francisco the mixture included Dungeness crab, which adds a unique flavor, but any regional crab will do. If crab is not available, substitute another shellfish. No clams? Try mussels. The point is to treat the following recipe as a guide and use whatever looks best in the market the day you make the soup.

Recipe notes

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