Video: Chef John’s Cioppino

Watch Chef John make a simple cioppino, the spicy seafood stew that’s the official dish of San Francisco. In this video, you’ll see how to prepare the flavorful white wine and tomato base—you can also use fish or chicken stock. Then it’s all about the seafood. To this basic cioppino, Chef John adds white fish, like cod, and shellfish, like mussels, shrimp, and fresh crab. This is a remarkably quick-cooking recipe, and it works great as a base that you can play with. The only downside? As stews go, this one's a little pricey; so cioppino’s perfect for a special occasion dinner. Don’t forget the sourdough bread! Get the recipe for Chef John’s Cioppino.