When it comes to cooking fish I have three main rules...
- Fresh is always best and although this may be said for almost every food when it comes to fish even 1 day passing by can make a huge difference to flavor and you can definitely tell.
- It needs to be cooked lightly. And that appeals mostly to fresh fish. Fresh fish has a light and refined flavor that can be easily covered with strong-flavored ingredients and sauces.
- Each type of fish works best in a certain way of cooking. For example, this soup is made with grey mullet which cooks really nicely in a soup or stew or even on a grill. But if you try to fry this type of fish you'll end up with a really dry flavorless fish.
So if you want to make truly flavorful fish soup, you'll need the right fish and for it to be really fresh. And also fresh ingredients like veggies and herbs. Skip the canned for a refined flavor.
What's This Greek Fish Soup Made Off
It's made with grey mullet (can use sea bass instead), potatoes, carrots, celery root, fresh tomato, onion, lemon, celery leaves, and extra virgin olive oil. Make sure you use real olive oil to make this soup!
& How To Make It...
First of all, if you're not accustomed to cooking with fresh fish, you should definitely check this picture tutorial on how to properly scale and gut the fish.
This Fish Soup takes about 45 minutes to cook. You start by simmering the onion along with the water and olive oil. To give time for the oil and the water to blend together before you add the remaining vegetables.
Then you cook the vegetables before adding the fish. The celery root, carrot, and potato are diced, and the tomato grated on a hand grater (instead of diced) to give a more saucy texture. You then add the fish on top of the veggies and cook for no more than 10-15 minutes with the pot's lid on (leaving it just slightly open on the side).
Every fish that weighs about 500 grams (17.6 oz) takes about 10-15 minutes to cook in this soup. If using a bigger fish cook for about 20 minutes.
Ideally, when making a soup that does not use additional stock, we always use the bones along with the meat whether it's fish or meat, like in this traditional Goat Stock Soup.
If we used only the meat of the fish, the soup would be missing on flavor. But in case you're not used to eating fresh fish and seeing a head with two eyes staring at you in your plate, (which I completely understand by the way), you can remove the fish from the pot once the soup is done, and shred its meat into pieces. To serve it in the soup without the bones, head, and tail. Be very careful though to remove the small bones if serving the soup this way.
OTHER GREEK FISH RECIPES TO TRY ⬇
All in all this soup is fresh, flavorful, and nutritious. All you really need for a healthy and light yummy dinner!
Recipe
Greek Fish Soup - Psarosoupa
Ingredients
- 1 fresh Grey Mullet or Sea Bass about 500 grams / 17.6 oz
- 2 small potatoes cut into 1 cm (0.4 inch) squares
- ½ cup celery root cut into 1 cm (0.4 inch) squares
- 1 small carrot cut into 1 cm (0.4 inch) squares
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- a handful of fresh celery leaves chopped
- 1 large tomato grated
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon zest and juice
Instructions
- Clean and prepare the fish. Remove its scales with a fork. Then open the belly with a knife and remove its innards. Remove the gills. See this tutorial on how to scale and gut a fresh fish.
- Cut into 5-6 pieces. Place in a pan and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on both sides.
- In a cooking pot, add the olive oil and the onion, along with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to medium and with the lid on slightly open on the side, simmer for 15 minutes.
- Then add the celery root, grated tomato, and the carrot and simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Add the celery leaves, the potatoes and season the soup with a bit of salt and pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes and then add the fish.
- Place the fish in the pot and bring the heat to medium-high. Cook for 10 minutes more, adding the lemon juice and zest 2 minutes before removing the pot from heat.
Nutrition
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Loved this soup. I used Alaskan Cod myself. Very easy to make.