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Lakeside Stall · Fish Soup

Wallake (Lake Poopó Fish Soup)

Wallake (Lake Poopó Fish Soup) — street food from Oruro, Bolivia
📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Dea-cc-95 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The soup is traditionally served scalding hot in the same clay pot it was cooked in, still bubbling, to fight off the Altiplano's freezing night air.

Small local fish are simmered whole in a broth with potatoes, chili and herbs until the meat falls apart. Market cooks near Oruro's Lake Poopó and Lake Uru Uru ladle it hot into bowls.

Why it's made this way: The soup depends on fish caught in Oruro's own high-altitude lakes, a resource distinct from La Paz's Titicaca trout.
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Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.