It’s amazing to me that so few people know how to make fish stock anymore. It is SO EASY. In my my new book, Fearless Broths and Soups, I have an entire chapter for learning how to make fish stock. All you need is an hour and at most, a few bucks!
Seriously, your local fishmonger will give you fish bones for practically nothing because so few people value them anymore. Once the fish are fileted, they just throw out the carcasses. What a waste!
And as opposed to other types of bone stocks, you don’t want to simmer fish bones longer than an hour because the fragile fats in fish can go rancid and make the stock too bitter and fishy. I made this mistake for many years because I followed the recipe for fish stock in Nourishing Traditions which says to simmer fish bones for up to 24 hours. Now I love Nourishing Traditions and would recommend it to anyone, but trust me, that is WAY too long.
So let me show you how to make fish stock in just one hour with two fish carcasses I got for FREE.
Fish stock is simply fish carcasses and a finely chopped mirepoix (first sauteed in butter) simmered in water with fresh herbs.
1. For a more gelatinous fish broth, use a few pounds of fish heads in place of the fish carcasses.
2. For a larger amount, double up the ingredient amounts in a larger stock pot. I always try to make as much broth as I can in one batch. For this reason, I recommend investing in some larger stock pots.
3. Feel free to try other herbs – parsley, fennel, cloves, etc. all work well.
OK, so now you have fish stock. Now what?
Well my new book, Fearless Broths and Soups, has an entire chapter dedicated to using fish stock with lots of creative fish stock-based soups.
There’s an entire chapter which I call “Soups from the Sea” which includes fish stock-based soup recipes for:
There are also dozens more bone broth (also called “bone stock”) and soup recipes that use more standard broths like chicken and beef. With chapters on Asian noodle soups, creamy vegetable soups, simple sausage and meatball soups and simple broth-based breakfast recipes for those rushed AM hours, there’s a little something for everyone.
Craig Fear is the creator of Fearless Eating and the author of three books, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, Fearless Broths and Soups and The Thai Soup Secret. After years helping clients with digestive issues, Craig decided to pursue writing full-time. He intends to write many more books on broths and soups from around the world! Click here to learn more about Craig.
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