Saturday, July 19, 2008

Fish Soup


When I was in Biarritz earlier this year, I swore to myself that I was going to make their delicious fish soup called ttoro which is the Basque take on the French fish soup. With a little help from this recipe and some feedback from X, I managed to come up with something that was pretty close to what I had in Biarritz.

I made this just before we left for Cannes, like the day before which explains why I didn't really have time to style the shot properly but take my word, it is delicious. I could have sworn I added parsley but I don't see any trace of them in the picture. I froze the remainder & when I want to eat it next, I'll buy some mussels, langoustines & maybe a little bit more fish to be added to it.

For the soup base, I bought 1 kg of small fish with heads which would then be pureed. Another 500g of firm white fish to be eaten with the soup.


Fish Soup
makes about 4 servings

1 kg of small fish (with heads), I used poisson de roche
500 g of any 2-3 types of firm white fish fillet, cut into big pieces
500 g mussels
4 langoustines
40cl white wine
6 onions, diced
1 potato, quartered
2 cans whole tomatoes or 5-6 tomatoes, remove skin & diced
1 star anise
laurel
1 tsp piment d'espelette
3-4 espelette chillis (if any)
I head of garlic cloves, smashed & skin removed
parsley
olive oil

1. Fry onions, garlic in about 3-4 Tbsp of olive oil

2. Add fish & wine until wine is reduced

3. Add 1.5 l of water with potato, tomatoes, star anise, laurel & piment d'espelette. Bring to a boil then simmer for 1 hour. Add salt & pepper to taste

4. Remove the big pieces of fish fillet & set aside (cutting them to bite size pieces)

5. Puree the soup with an immersion blender

6. Then strain it through a sieve, pressing with a spoon to extract as much of the liquid out as possible. Discard the mush with the bones in them

7. Bring the soup back to a boil & add the mussels & langoustines. When they are cooked, add the fish fillet. Serve with fresh parsley or croutons.



5 comments:

Tsu Lin + + said...

Wow, a surge of blog posts ... I am trying to keep up, especially with all those recipes being thrown in. It's hard not to stop and ogle longer.

petite fleur said...

I'd been busy all week & only just have time to blog.

You have to try this fish soup. It's not difficult & really good.

Tsu Lin + + said...

Coincidentally, my little girl (she is 1 yr old) LOVES eating fish. She has on many occasion, insists on not eating her rice/porridge but just eat the fish instead (I steam her fish separate from her porridge/rice).

Your recipe looks easy although the type of fishes are intimidating. I don't know French (words), Poisson de Roche = Rock Fish?
piment d'espelette ?
langoustines ? (I think I have an idea on what this is although I need to consult google later to confirm).

petite fleur said...

That's a good thing. Mine too esp salmon.

Just use any small fish with head for the soup base. Piment d'espelette is particular to the Basque region. You can substitute with saffron.

Langoustines are also called scampi. These & mussels are optional. Use only fish for the soup.

petite fleur said...

Tsu Lin

I made some slight changes to the recipe cos I found my notes & I realised that I left out star anise which is essential to the taste of the soup.