River Vendor · Spiced Shrimp Soup

Janga (River Shrimp) Soup

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Janga is harvested by hand from the Rio Grande, the same river long used for Portland's iconic bamboo rafting, and vendors traditionally sell the peppery soup as a hangover cure and energy tonic.

Small freshwater shrimp are simmered in a peppery, garlicky broth with coconut milk, yam, and green banana, ladled hot from roadside pots near the Rio Grande valley.

Why it's made this way: Portland's Rio Grande is one of the few Jamaican rivers with a real freshwater shrimp fishery, making janga soup a genuinely local specialty.

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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.