Ukha is a simple dish of Russian cuisine, but there is a lot of controversy surrounding it. The classic version contains nothing but fish, onions, carrots, salt and pepper. However, everyone cooks differently, adding cereals, vegetables, cream, and seasonings. The recipe for fish soup with pearl barley is slightly different from the traditional one, but it turns out very satisfying and tasty. You can choose red or river fish to diversify your diet. Regardless of the type, it is worth cooking a stew from heads, tails or bellies - this will make the broth rich.
Salmon and barley soup
There are many step-by-step recipes with photos or videos of fish soup with barley, but everyone prepares the dish to their own taste. One part recognizes fish soup exclusively from river fish, and the second - from sea fish. Red varieties are especially popular. The salmon broth is rich, healthy and aromatic. Based on it, you can cook a delicious soup, which includes the following components:
- salmon (head, tails, ridges) - 900 g;
- water - 3-3.5 l;
- onion - 1 head;
- pearl barley - 100 g;
- potatoes - 4 tubers;
- peppercorns - 4-5 pcs.;
- salt;
- fresh parsley.
Any recipe for fish soup with barley starts with one. First of all, you need to prepare the fish: wash it, cut out the gills and eyes from the head. Place the pieces in a pan, throw in a whole onion, pepper and a little salt. Cook for 20 minutes, after boiling, skim off the foam. Place the boiled salmon on a plate and strain the broth through several layers of gauze, otherwise bones may get caught in the fish soup.
Allow the fish to cool, and then disassemble into small slices, removing bones and skin. Place the strained broth back on the stove. Pour washed pearl barley into it and cook for 15 minutes, after the specified time add diced potatoes. Simmer over medium heat for another 15-20 minutes until done, after which you can add the spices and check for salt. Return the salmon pieces to the broth and bring to a boil.
Before turning off the heat, add chopped parsley. Let it brew for 10-15 minutes and serve with bread.
Denis Borisov
Assistant chef of the restaurant "Fisherman's House"
Ask a Question
Many cooks advise cooking pearl barley or rice at home separately from the fish soup - this way the cereal will not overcook and turn into porridge.
Classic dish of pink salmon with pearl barley
Red fish soups always turn out delicious, regardless of which recipe you choose and what ingredients you use. With the addition of pearl barley, the stew becomes thicker and richer. The recipe is considered the basis, that is, it can be supplemented with any products. Suitable soup set, fillets, steaks, heads and tails.
What is needed:
- pink salmon - 700 g;
- water - about 2 liters;
- pearl barley - 100 g;
- white onion - 2 heads;
- potatoes - 4 tubers;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- pepper and salt - to taste;
- several bay leaves;
- vegetable oil - 20 ml;
- a small bunch of fresh parsley.
It has already been described how to properly cook pearl barley in order to reduce cooking time. There is no point in dwelling on this again. Barley should be boiled until soft, but so that the grains remain intact.
To prepare the broth, place prepared pieces of fish, one whole onion, bay leaves and peppercorns into a pan. Pour water over everything and cook for 25-30 minutes after boiling. Strain the broth, wash the pan, place the pink salmon on a plate - after cooling, disassemble it into small pieces.
Throw diced potatoes into the strained broth. After 5-7 minutes, you can add the fried onions and carrots. Add salt to taste and cook for another 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Place the porridge and pink salmon into the pan. Let the fish soup with barley and potatoes simmer for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat. Lastly, add chopped parsley.
Denis Borisov
Assistant chef of the restaurant "Fisherman's House"
Ask a Question
Any fish soup should stand without heat under the lid for 10-15 minutes. All the products will arrive, and the dish will become even tastier.
Kalya - pickle or fish soup
The old Russian dish called kalya has a rich history. It was originally prepared from fish, adding pickles and beets. Later, beets were replaced with turnips, and pickle or lemon began to be used instead of cucumbers. Fish soup gradually fell out of use - fish soup began to be prepared. They are often considered the same dishes, but kalya includes cucumbers, which is the main difference.
It’s worth making pickle to appreciate the unique combination of products:
- red fish - 1 kg;
- pearl barley - 1 glass;
- water - 3 l;
- potatoes - 2-3 tubers;
- one large onion;
- carrots - 2 pcs.;
- tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
- pickles - 2 pcs.;
- beets - 1 pc.;
- olives - 10 pcs.;
- a couple of bay leaves;
- peppercorns - 10 pcs.;
- cucumber pickle - ½ cup;
- salt and spices - to taste.
Wash the fish, cut into large pieces, rinse thoroughly, getting rid of the films inside the carcass. It is not advisable to take fillets, since the broth turns out rich only from the heads and tails. Pour cold water over the pieces and put on fire - cook for 20-30 minutes until the flesh comes away easily from the bones.
Boil pearl barley in a separate pan, after rinsing it under water. Cooking the porridge will take 40-50 minutes. If you cook it together with other products, the broth may lose transparency. You must first bake or boil the beets.
Cut the onion into small cubes, grate the carrots and fry the vegetables for 5-7 minutes with vegetable oil. Peel the tomatoes, chop into slices and add to the pan. Simmer over low heat until the moisture from the tomatoes evaporates.
Remove the fish from the finished broth: strain the liquid, and disassemble large pieces into small ones and remove the bones. Throw potatoes and sauteed vegetables into the boiling broth, pour half a glass of brine into the pan. After 10-15 minutes, add pearl barley porridge, pepper, bay leaves, and diced cucumbers. Cook over low heat until the potatoes are soft.
Return slices of boiled fish to the soup, add olives and grated beets. Once boiling, let simmer for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat. When serving, add a spoonful of sour cream, fresh herbs and a little red caviar to each plate.
After cooking, it is recommended to remove the bay leaf from the kalia so that it does not make it bitter.
Find out the secret of delicious soup
Secret 1
Adding eggshells will create a clear broth. Before adding vegetables, it must be strained.
Secret 2
Over-salted soup can be easily saved with sugar. Place a piece of refined sugar on a spoon and lower it into the broth until the sugar begins to melt.
Secret 3
Boiled greens look ugly and have no value, so add parsley, dill or basil before serving.
Secret 4
For thickness, it is often recommended to use flour, but it should first be fried in a dry frying pan, otherwise lumps will form.
Finnish fish soup with pearl barley
Ukha is considered one of the national dishes of Russian cuisine, but in fact it is prepared by many peoples. Some cook the stew in a completely different way, adding certain ingredients to it. For example, Finnish fish soup consists of red fish and cream. Additionally, a mixture of flour and butter, as well as mashed potatoes, can be added to the broth to achieve a creamy consistency. List of ingredients and how to cook fish soup with barley:
- trout (fillet) - 400 g;
- soup set (heads, tails) - 400 g;
- pearl barley - 70 g;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- white onion - 1 pc.;
- potatoes - 3-5 tubers;
- cream and milk - 250 ml each;
- fresh parsley - for serving;
- one bay leaf;
- ground black pepper and salt - to taste.
Fish bones make the stew rich, so you can’t throw away heads, spines, and tails. Rinse the soup set and let it cook, adding salt, pepper and bay leaf. After boiling, reduce the heat and remove the foam - this will allow you to achieve a clear broth. Red fish cooks quickly, so after 15-20 minutes after boiling, you can turn off the heat.
Pour pearl barley with water and leave for several hours until it swells. Rinse and cover with clean water, boil until tender in a separate pan, adding a pinch of salt.
Remove the fish from the broth (you can disassemble it into pieces without bones), strain the liquid through a sieve. Return the pan with fish broth to the stove and add the potatoes, cut into medium cubes. After 7-10 minutes, add chopped carrots and onions. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes and other vegetables are cooked.
For now, you can take care of the salmon fillet - cut into cubes measuring 2 by 2 cm. Small bones can be easily removed with tweezers if the fish has them. Pour milk and cream into the dish, salt the abalone to taste, and add pearl barley. Bring to a boil and only now add the fillet - this is the main feature of preparing Finnish fish soup at home.
Simmer over low heat for no more than 5 minutes, as red fish cannot be overcooked, as it will become tough. It is better to leave the stew to ripen after cooking, adding greens and closing the lid. Do not stir the soup often so that the salmon pieces do not fall apart.
Finnish soup should turn out creamy, as in the photographs. To do this, you need to remove several potato slices from the broth and grind them into a puree. Cooks do it differently: they fry wheat flour in a dry frying pan, mix it with cream or butter and pour it into the soup.
Quick canned soup
High quality canned fish retains all the beneficial elements and tastes no different from fresh fish. However, the cooking time for the soup is reduced, which will please any cook. If you boil the pearl barley in advance, the first course will take no more than 20 minutes.
So, here's a list of everything you need:
- canned fish in oil (saury, pink salmon, gobies) - 1 can;
- potatoes - 5 tubers;
- pearl barley - 100 g;
- onion - 1 pc.;
- carrots - 1 pc.;
- tomato paste - 2-3 tbsp. l.;
- sunflower oil - 2 tbsp. l.;
- ground black pepper;
- salt;
- Bay leaf.
Soak the pearl barley for a couple of hours in advance and rinse it several times under water. Bring to simmer over medium heat; after 20 minutes, when the pearl barley becomes soft and crumbly, add the diced potatoes. Cook for another 15 minutes over low heat, covering the pan with a lid. Finely chop the onion and fry in oil until transparent. Add grated carrots and tomato paste to the pan and sauté for a couple more minutes. Transfer the roast to the potato broth.
Next is the turn of canned fish, but first it is recommended to put it on a plate and break it into medium-sized pieces. Place pink salmon or saury in a saucepan along with oil - this will make the soup richer and more nutritious. Throw in the spices and bay leaf and simmer the stew for three minutes. Turn off the heat and serve a delicious fish dish with sour cream.
Calorie content of dishes
Dish | Serving Size | KBZHU |
Russian fish soup with pearl barley and carp | 100 g | Calories - 47 kcal, proteins - 5.7 g, fats - 2 g, carbohydrates - 1.7 |
Kalya (fish pickle) | 100 g | Calories - 44 kcal, proteins - 3.2 g, fats - 2 g, carbohydrates - 3.4 |
Finnish fish soup with pearl barley and red fish | 100 g | Calories - 108 kcal, proteins - 11 g, fats - 4 g, carbohydrates - 6 |
Everyone prepares fish soup in their own way, and it depends primarily on the country. For example, in Finland it is customary to serve creamy soup with red fish, and in Russia - traditional river fish soup with vegetables. Don't forget about the ancient dish called kalya, which includes a rich fish broth and brine. Cooking takes about one hour, even in a slow cooker the process goes quickly.