Surubí (surubim in Brazil) is a large spotted catfish of the Amazon basin, also present in South America’s other great waterways. (For a broader discussion of catfish, see p. XXX.) Several species of the genus – there are currently eight recognized ones – contribute significantly to the diet in Bolivian and Paraguayan lands.
What is now the Plurinational State of Bolivia lost its seaboard in the late nineteenth century. Paraguay never had one. These are South America’s only two landlocked countries; access to rivers is critical in both. The one hosts the southern reaches of the Amazon River system; the other is shaped by the eponymous Paraguay, the Paraná and their tributaries. (The name surubí comes from Guaraní, Paraguay’s Indigenous and co-official language.)
Here as elsewhere, with droughts increasingly frequent, climate change is causing environmental and economic stress. In September 2021, the Paraná, which carries most of Paraguay’s international trade and supplies much of its electricity, dropped to its lowest level in nearly eight decades. When damming and overfishing across the region are factored in, the threat to riverine species – alongside more immediate concerns – can be acute.
The mild-flavoured spotted surubí (surubí pintado, Pseudoplatystoma corruscans), which our recipe originally features, is the largest of all catfish, measuring up to 1.5 metres or more. It is a handsome beast – Brazilians call it peixe rei, or king fish – with long wavy whiskers and markings that evoke whimsically meandering ink drops. It is also overfished. Aquaculture involving the spotted surubí has generally favoured hybridization with another species, Pseudoplatystoma reticulatus, resulting in individuals with a longer reproductive cycle. In some cases, poor controls have allowed hybrids back into the river system; these have been known to crossbreed back with one or the other of their parental wild species, jostling ecosystems and complicating species recognition. Given the tiered conundrum of status, availability and identification, we recommend using monkfish or flounder instead.
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