Let's reveal the secrets of making fish broth: pure as a tear

How to lighten

Since fish broth can be cooked in different ways, we will analyze the basic technology of the recipe, in which the liquid turns out to be as light and transparent as possible. Here are the rules to follow:

Use only fresh fish - regardless of whether it is frozen, chilled or fresh. Fish soup or other recipe will turn out more delicious this way.
Carefully clean the carcass. All entrails must be removed - pay special attention to the black stripe that runs in the peritoneum along the ridge. It needs to be completely scraped out.
To immediately obtain a clear and light broth, it must be boiled with the addition of carrots, several sprigs of any greenery to taste, and an onion.
If for some reason it was not possible to prepare the fish broth correctly right away, you should use the following technology. Take 1 or 2 chicken whites (the yolks must be separated), beat them lightly and add them into the liquid in a thin stream, with constant stirring. This broth is cooked with egg whites for several minutes. It is advisable to stir several times. During this time, the egg component will rise up and lighten the broth. This component must be assembled.
Another important point is the slow boiling process. Under no circumstances should boiling be allowed, as it will not be possible to collect high-quality foam. If the soup is cooked slowly, then there is no need to further lighten it.

These tips will help you understand why the broth is clarified and make the liquid clear immediately, or clarify cloudy broth during cooking.

It is worth considering that the KBZHU of the average fish soup or fish soup is within the following components:

Calorie content – 40 kcal
Proteins – 2.6 g.
Fats – 0.9 g.
Carbohydrates – 4 g.

From red fish

Recipe ingredients:

Red fish – 1 pc.
Carrots, onions - 1 pc.
Allspice peas – 5-6 pcs.
Salt and bay leaf - to taste.

KBJU recipe:

Fish broth cooking technology

In a saucepan

Preparation:

We cut one kilogram of fish into pieces, rinse well and place in a pan.
Pour in cold water (3-4 liters) and turn on high heat.
After boiling, reduce the heat, remove the foam, add one whole onion, carrots, bay leaf and dill or parsley to taste, black peppercorns.
Cook for 30-45 minutes depending on the type of fish (until the meat peels off the bones).
A few minutes before readiness, add salt.
Strain through a fine sieve and remove the vegetables.

In former times, special medicinal properties were attributed to fish broth; it was used to restore health and treat certain diseases. It was believed that the dish gives a person additional energy, increases male strength and life expectancy.

Initially, parts of the fish remaining after cutting were used to prepare the broth.

In a slow cooker

Preparation:

Place one kilogram of fish, cut into pieces and thoroughly washed, into the multicooker bowl.
Fill with cold water (2 liters). Immediately add half an onion, bay leaf, a bunch of dill, salt and black peppercorns to taste.
Turn on the “Soup” mode for 1-1 hour. 10 min.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve and remove the vegetables.

The most delicious and rich fish broths are obtained from sturgeon fish, as well as from perch, pike perch, ruffe, burbot, whitefish, carp, carp, and hake. For greater fat, you can use 2 or even 3 types of fish.

In the microwave

Preparation:

Place two or three pieces of thoroughly washed fish (300 g) in a deep saucepan or bowl suitable for use in a microwave oven.
Pour in cold water (1 liter) and cover (the lid should have an outlet to release steam), then bring to a boil at maximum power for 4-5 minutes.
After boiling, reduce the setting to medium and cook for 5-7 minutes until tender.
If necessary, remove the foam.
Strain the finished broth through a fine sieve.

❌ Fish of the herring and mackerel families are not used to prepare broths. The broth prepared from them will have an unpleasant aftertaste and a cloudy appearance. It is also not recommended to use fish from silted waters. It gives the finished dish a swamp smell.

How to cook real fish soup, follow this link.

From the head of a fish

Whenever you cook fish, especially large ones, you can take its head and tail in order to obtain a rich broth for further preparation of fish soup or fish soup. Sometimes one skull is enough when the dimensions are quite significant. Rich fish soup can be made from the following ingredients:

Head of large fish - salmon, salmon, chinook - 1 pc.
Dill – 1 bunch.
Onion – 1 medium sized head.
Garlic – 2 cloves.

KBJU recipe:

Calorie content – 28 kcal
Proteins – 1.2 g.
Fats – 0.8 g.
Carbohydrates – 3 g.

Process for making fish broth:

Wash the fish head under running water. Pull back the gill slits and cut out the gills, which are lamellar tissue. If this is not done, the broth may acquire an unpleasant bitter taste and a cloudy tint, since all the harmful components that are in the water accumulate here and are filtered out during the breathing of the fish.
Place the fish head in a saucepan, fill it with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat and immediately reduce the heating power.
Move the head with a spoon so that the foam floats to the top, but do not interfere under any circumstances so that it does not settle to the bottom.
Collect it carefully with a spoon.
Then add the peeled vegetables, maybe uncut. Add spices and salt and cook for 30 minutes over very low heat.

How to make fish broth

Prepare the ingredients for making fish stock.

Wash the heads and tails of the carp and place them in a saucepan.

Fill with fresh water.

Add carrots and onions.

Add allspice, black peppercorns and bay leaf. Add salt to taste.

Bring the contents of the pan to a boil and skim off the foam.

Then cook the fish broth on the lowest heat for 35-40 minutes.

Strain the finished broth.

Fish broth is ready. Add greens to it and you can serve it or make soup.

Bone broth

Fish stock can also be made from bones. This is true when the fish is filleted and some other dish is prepared from the meat. In this case, you don’t have to throw away the bones, but cook an excellent fish broth from them. But keep in mind that this option is only suitable if it is fish of valuable species - char, chinook salmon, salmon, trout, ide or any others.

Therefore, for the recipe we take the following components:

The spine, head and tail of a red or other valuable fish.
Onions and carrots - 1 pc. large size.
Peppercorns – 5 pcs.
Bay leaf - 1 pc.
Salt and ground white pepper - to taste.

KBZHU bone broth:

Calorie content – 28 kcal
Proteins – 2 g.
Fats – 1 g.
Carbohydrates – 3 g.

The process and technology in this case are no different from other options for fish broth:

Boil the broth while collecting the foam.
Once the foam is removed, add whole peeled vegetables and dry spices along with salt.
And cook for about 25 minutes.

Head-tail

For such a fish broth, you need to prepare the following components:

Head and tail – 1 trout.
Onion – 1 small piece.
Bay leaf – 2 small leaves.
Carrots – 1 pc.

KBJU per 100 ml:

Calorie content – 27 kcal
Proteins – 2 g.
Fats – 1 g.
Carbohydrates – 3.1 g.

Step-by-step recipe for clear broth:

From fish that is used for salting, stewing or frying, the head and tail are cut off. First, the scales must be carefully removed from the surface of the skin.
The fish parts are washed, placed in a pan and filled with cold water.
Pour in the required amount of water and quickly bring to a boil over high heat.
Collect all the foam that has risen and only after it has been completely eliminated, add peeled vegetables to the broth. It is better to leave them whole, but if they are too large, cut them in half.
Boil over low heat for 20-25 minutes.
Strain the resulting broth. If for some reason it was not possible to make it transparent, then you can put clean broth, from which the head and tail have been removed, back onto the stove. Bring it to a boil, pour in the lightly beaten egg whites in a stream and simmer over low heat for 2 minutes. During the coagulation process, it will collect all the dark-colored protein components that may be suspended in the liquid.
The foam that rises along with the protein to the surface of the fish dish must be removed, otherwise it will not be possible to lighten the soup.

Beneficial and harmful properties of fish broth

✅ Useful

Compensates for the lack of nutrients during diets.
It has a low calorie content (on average about 50 kcal per 100 g).
Contains useful substances such as folic acid, magnesium, polyunsaturated fats, iodine.
Rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, C, D, E, PP.
Normalizes the functioning of the gallbladder and digestive system.
Speeds up metabolism.

It is recommended to include broth from cod fillet or other nutritious fish into the diet of children aged 8 months and older (in the absence of allergies) at least once a week. You should simply cook it by adding the fish to salted water.

Thanks to the rich content of vitamins and microelements that are beneficial for the child’s body, this dish will be an excellent addition to the child’s diet.

See also: Recipe for oyster mushroom soup

❌ Harmful

The ability to cause an allergic reaction.
The ability of fish, when exposed to unfavorable natural conditions, to accumulate salts of harmful metals and toxic substances.
Contraindications for people with liver, kidney and cardiovascular diseases.

The surest way to choose good, fresh fish is to buy live fish. If this is not possible, you should choose by smell. Freshly caught fish is distinguished by a barely perceptible sweetish smell or its complete absence.

Mackerel with potatoes

Since it is most often necessary to cook fish broth when you need to prepare fish soup or fish soup, here is the recipe that will come to the table.

Fish recipe ingredients:

Large mackerel – 1 pc.
Potatoes - 2 medium tubers.
Carrots – 1 large piece.
Onion – 1 head.
Garlic – 1 clove.
Dill – 1 large bunch.
Bay leaf – 1 large dry leaf.
Black peppercorns, cloves, a mixture of peppers - to taste.

KBZHU for 100 ml of fish soup:

Calorie content – 54 kcal
Proteins – 2.1 g.
Fats – 2.8 g.
Carbohydrates – 4.8 g.

Scheme for preparing frozen mackerel soup:

Mackerel must be thawed in natural conditions. Peel the scales from it, carefully gut it, and remove the gills.
Cut it into two parts perpendicular to the ridge. Place in a saucepan, add filtered or bottled water, and boil.
Reduce heat to low and gradually collect the rising foam over several minutes.
Then add all the spices and salt. Continue cooking for 20 minutes. Remove the fish pieces and filter the broth through a sieve to prevent the bones from getting into the liquid component.
Cool the meat and remove the bones.
Return the broth to the stove, boil and add diced potatoes and onions. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater and also add to the soup.
For those who like a richer and fattier taste of the first course, you can pre-fry the carrots and onions in a frying pan in a small amount of vegetable oil or butter.
Bring the vegetables until cooked and at the final stage add spices and finely chopped dill and fish ingredients.

With tomatoes and celery

To prepare an original version of fish soup, you can use the following recipe.

Components:

Red fish, preferably fatty varieties – 1 pc. small in size (it can be replaced with the head and tail of a large fish).
Potatoes – 1 pc.
Rice – 50 g.
Bottled water – 3 l.
Tomatoes – 4 pcs. medium-sized red varieties.
Butter – 20 g.
Onions – 2 medium sized heads.
Garlic – 2 cloves.
Dill – 1 large bunch.
Stem celery – 1 stalk.
Salt and spices - to taste.

KBZHU fish soup:

Calorie content – 60 kcal
Proteins – 2.4 g.
Fats – 3 g.
Carbohydrates – 4.1 g.

Scheme for preparing fish soup with tomatoes:

The fish must be washed, cleaned of scales and intestines, and the gills removed.
Place the prepared parts of the fish in a saucepan, add cold prepared water and boil for 15 minutes until half cooked.
Remove the fish from the water, cool it, strain the broth and return it to the heat.
Sauté the onion in butter along with grated carrots.
Transfer the vegetables to the boiling broth.
Add peeled and diced potatoes to it.
Rinse the rice and also add it to the future fish soup.
Chop the washed dill very finely.
Rinse the celery stalks under running water and carefully cut off the fibers that run along the entire length of the stem with a knife. Then cut them into thin slices. Add to soup and continue to simmer over low heat.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and peel off the skins. Chop the pulp into small cubes and put them in the soup.
Cook everything together until the vegetables and cereals are completely cooked.
At the final stage, add spices and salt to the fish dish.

Cooking features

For experienced chefs, preparing fish stock will not be a difficult task. Before starting cooking, a novice housewife should know a few important points so that her efforts are not wasted.

Not all fish are equally good for making fish stock. The inhabitants of muddy ponds are not very suitable for it, as they have a specific smell that is transferred to the finished dish. If you use fish such as catfish or pike, caught in a heavily overgrown reservoir, then the broth will have to be flavored using a large amount of seasonings and roots. Mackerel and herring are absolutely not suitable for making broth. When cooked, they provide it with such a specific smell that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of it.
To give the fish broth a pleasant aroma, add bay leaves, black and allspice peas, herbs, carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger. Some people improve the taste of the broth by adding lemon juice or cucumber pickle.
The taste of the broth depends on what kind of fish was used to prepare it. The most rich is obtained from pike perch, ruffe, and perch. Bream, carp and carp can give the dish a bitter taste. To obtain the most delicious broth, several types of fish are combined; bony and fleshy fish make especially successful combinations. An interesting taste can be obtained by combining fish that live in different types of reservoirs.
The greatest fat comes from the bones, fins, and heads of fish, so fish waste can be used to prepare the broth. This makes the dish economical. Fish waste intended for cooking broth must be thoroughly washed, since blood and bile entering the broth will make it cloudy and bitter.
To make the broth clear, cook it over low heat, skimming off the foam that forms on the surface, and strain the finished dish. If the result still does not satisfy you, egg white will help make the broth more transparent. You need to separate it from the yolk, beat it with a little salt, put it in the broth and boil for a while. After this, all that remains is to remove the foam that appears on the surface and strain the dish. The broth will become transparent.
To make the broth rich, pour cold water over the fish and only then bring to a boil and cook.
The average cooking time for fish broth is 45 minutes.

Salmon

Salmon soup is an excellent hearty dish that has a lot of beneficial properties due to the large amount of fatty acids that are beneficial for the human body. Preparing such a dish is simple and quick, but first you need to prepare quality ingredients:

Salmon head and tail.
Potatoes – 2 pcs.
Onions – 1 pc.
Carrots – 1 root vegetable.
Millet – 80 g.
Butter – 20 g for sautéing.
Ground white pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaf - to taste.

KBZHU fish soup per 100 ml:

Calorie content – 41 kcal
Proteins – 2 g.
Fats – 2.8 g.
Carbohydrates – 3.5 g.

Recipe preparation diagram:

Prepare the tail and head of the salmon according to all the rules.
Place them in a saucepan and add water to a boil. Reduce heat and skim off any rising foam.
Wash the millet, peel the vegetables and chop them into cubes.
Boil the fish for 15 minutes, remove it from the water and strain the resulting broth.
Remove the salmon meat from the bones, carefully removing all the pieces from the head and tail. Add back to the boiling broth.
Add potatoes cut into pieces there.
In a separate frying pan, sauté onions and carrots in butter. When they are half cooked, add them to the soup.
Rinse the millet and add to the rest of the ingredients.
Salt, pepper, add spices to taste and greens, which will be pre-chopped. Cook the fish dish until the potatoes and millet are cooked.

Fish solyanka with smoked fish

Smoked fish gives the soup a special piquancy. Try this dish.

The recipe for solyanka is simple. Take these products:

pike perch (with tail and head) - 200 g;
salted salmon or salmon - 200 g;
halibut, mackerel or other cold smoked fish - 200 g;
water - 3 l;
onion - 1 head;
tomato paste - 5 tbsp. l.;
vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. l.;
pickled cucumbers - 3 pcs.;
olives - 100 g;
bay leaf - 2 pcs.

Photo: Odnoklassniki.ru: UGC
Solyanka has a rich taste. Prepare a dish from any type of fish.

What to use it for

The broth, which will be prepared from different types, can be used for different purposes. Ukha is the first thing that comes to mind, but it is far from the only recipe option. You can make fish aspic or various types of soups from different cuisines of the world.

Solyanka

The recipe for fish solyanka is an original version of how you can use fish broth to prepare a first course from it. To cook it you will need:

Broth in the amount of 2 liters. You can cook it from any fish that is available.
Smoked salmon and sturgeon – 300 g each.
White roots, grated on a fine grater - 3 tbsp.
Salted or pickled mushrooms – 200 g.
Pickled cucumber brine – 180 ml.
Pickled cucumbers – 2 large pieces.
Olives (green or black) – 10-15 pieces.
Capers – 2 tbsp.
Tomatoes – 3 large pieces.
Peeled shrimp or boiled squid – 300 g.
Dill – 2 large bunches.

KBJU recipe:

Calorie content – 39 kcal
Proteins – 4.1 g.
Fats – 2.2 g.
Carbohydrates – 3.7 g.

Cooking process:

Add diced potatoes and grated white roots to the broth, which has already boiled.
While they are cooking, prepare the mushrooms, olives, pickles and mushrooms. They need to be cut.
Place them in the hodgepodge along with the capers. If you want a richer, spicy flavor, you can cut the capers in half lengthwise.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, remove the skin and cut the pulp into cubes. Add to the hodgepodge.
Boil the fish soup until tender, add salt and spices to taste.

Soup with croutons

Fish soup with croutons is a great option for a hearty dish with a high protein content. It will require the following components:

Fish broth – 2 l.
White sea fish meat – 400 g.
Lentils – 80 g dry.
Carrots – 1 root vegetable.
Onions – 1 pc.
Butter – 50 g.
Ground black and white pepper, as well as salt - to taste.

KBZHU fish soup:

Calorie content – 48 kcal
Proteins – 4.1 g.
Fats – 2.9 g.
Carbohydrates – 5.2 g.

Process for preparing fish soup:

Boil the broth.
Place finely grated carrots and onions into it, which must also be grated. How much fish to put in the soup depends on individual preferences, but the more there is, the tastier and more satisfying the final dish will be.
Rinse the red (orange) lentils under running water and add to the fish soup.
Bring to readiness, at the final stage add butter, salt and ground pepper to the fish component.

These options allow you to prepare a wide variety of fish broth recipes. How long to cook fish, how to choose the right ingredients - these are fairly simple rules. And by following them, you can always please yourself and your loved ones with an original recipe based on river and sea fish. Why is the broth clarified? To get a visually attractive dish that can be served on a festive table.