Red claw + yabby soup — a quick + tasty camp soup that turns a morning's bait pumping or a few caught yabbies into a generous bowl. Tomato base + creamy evaporated milk + sweet yabby tails + garlic. 15 minutes start to finish. Perfect entrée for a freshwater fishing trip.

The trick: don't boil the milk after adding (curdles). Otherwise foolproof.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Serves: 4 · Prep: 5 minutes · Cook: 10 minutes · Equipment: camp oven OR saucepan

Photo: Hanxiao Xu / Unsplash

• 2 cans condensed tomato soup (Campbell's or similar)
• 1 can evaporated milk (the unsweetened kind)
• 1 cup yabby OR red claw tails (peeled — fresh or frozen)
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1½ cups water
• Salt + cracked black pepper to taste

Optional add-ins: pinch of cayenne or smoked paprika; splash of dry sherry; handful chopped parsley to garnish; extra cream for richness.

To serve: crusty bread, lemon wedges, parsley sprinkle.

1. Place 1½ cups water in the camp oven or saucepan. Add garlic, salt, pepper + yabby tails.
2. Bring to the boil. Yabby tails turn pink + cook in about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add tomato soup. Pour both cans in. Stir well + bring back to a gentle boil.
4. Reduce heat to LOW.
5. Add evaporated milk SLOWLY. Stir continuously. DO NOT BOIL after adding milk — boiling = curdled mess. Just heat through gently.
6. Adjust seasoning with salt + pepper to taste.
7. Serve immediately with crusty bread + lemon wedges.

• Don't boil the milk — single most important rule. Curdled tomato-milk soup is unfixable
• Yabby tails: peel cooked yabbies (catch your own in dams + slow rivers) OR buy frozen marron tails / red claw tails from a fishmonger
• Substitute crustaceans: small prawns, crayfish meat, even tinned crab work fine
• Old scout trick — to stop billies + pots sticking on the bottom: SOAP THE OUTSIDE + BOTTOM (liquid soap is easier than bar). Makes them easier to clean later. Try it once + you'll never go back
• Make it heartier: add diced potato or pasta to make it a meal
• Spice variation: add 1 tsp cayenne + smoked paprika for proper heat
• Camp version: works on a butane stove or over coals — same technique

The 15-minute camp soup that uses your catch beautifully. Tomato + cream + sweet yabby tails — generous, satisfying, easy. Perfect entrée for a freshwater fishing trip dinner.

Two tinned soups + a tin of evaporated milk forms the base — store these as part of your camp pantry for an instant catch-cooking option.