Recipe for fish soup
Delicious and flavorful fish soup.
The recipe also includes a homemade fish stock, but if you don’t feel up to making it yourself, you can of course buy it.
For me, this dish embodies the essence of avoiding food waste, as the fish head and bones would otherwise have gone unused. Additionally, the soup was served with day-old bread that was turned into lovely croutons.
Regarding what you use from the fish, the quantities aren’t that critical. I had 2 cod heads and 1 skeleton with some meat still attached. This stock is for 8 people, and I only used half for the soup. The other half was reduced by half and bottled in small containers for the freezer. This way, I have easy fish stock for sauces another day.
In general, stocks benefit from long simmering times, but fish should only be boiled for 25 minutes to avoid bitterness.
Fish Soup
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef'S Knife
- Pre-Slicing Knife
- Bread Knife
- Pot
- Sieve
- Grater
- Oven
- Ovenproof dish (Option 1)
- Baking Tray (Option 2)
- Baking Paper
Ingredients
Fish Stock
- 2 kg Cod Cod head/skeleton, approximate amount
- 5 pcs. Carrots
- 3 pcs. Celery Stalks
- 6 gram Peppercorns
- 0.5 pcs. Leek
- 2 pcs. Onion chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 2 pcs. Thyme Stalks
- 3 pcs. Bay Leaf
- 3 l Water approximate amount
Fish Soup
- 15 gram Butter
- 1 pcs. Onion finely chopped
- 1 clove Garlic finely chopped
- 2 pcs. Carrots diced
- 0.5 pcs. Leek cut into thin strips
- 1.25 l Fish Stock above recipe
- 0.5 pcs. Lime both juice and zest, can be replaced with lemon
- 300 gram Whipping Cream
- Salt and Pepper
- 450 gram Cod diced, can be replaced with another light fish
- Herbs Dill or lemon thyme
Bread croutons
- 3 slices Bread preferably a bit dry
- Salt and Pepper
- Oil neutral
Instructions
Fish Stock
- Coarsely chop all vegetables.
- Place all ingredients in a large pot. Add the fish head/bones and cover everything with water.
- Cover with a lid and bring everything to a boil.
- When it boils, skim the soup. You do this by removing the top scum from the soup with a spoon. Simply discard the scum.
- Let it all boil for 25 minutes, continuously skimming the soup.
- Pour the soup through a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth/muslin and into a smaller pot.
- Bring it to a boil again without a lid. The longer you boil it now, the more intense the flavor will be.
- I gave it 15 minutes before I poured off what I used for the soup. The remaining was allowed to reduce for about an hour and a half.
Fish Soup
- Put butter in a pot and heat it over medium heat (9 out of 14 on my stove).
- Add the chopped onions, garlic, leeks, and carrots.
- Sauté for a couple of minutes. They shouldn't take on color, just become softer and a bit more translucent.
- Add the stock and turn up the heat,
- Let it boil for a couple of minutes and then add the cream.
- Grate lime/lemon zest into the soup and add the juice.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- When it tastes just right, add the fish pieces (mine were about 2 x 3 cm) to the soup.
- They should only boil for 2 minutes and the soup is ready.
Bread Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) (convection).
- Cut the bread into smaller pieces.
- Put oil, salt, and pepper in a small bag.
- Add the bread and close the bag.
- Shake well to distribute the oil on the bread pieces.
- Place them in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them - it goes quickly towards the end. I speak from experience, as mine got a bit extra crispy when the youngest needed my attention.