Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Serves 6
- fish carcasses of your choice (sea bass and sea bream heads and bones for me)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 1 small can tomato paste (or 3 Tbsp)
- 1 bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 star anise or half a capful of Pastis (optional)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 glass (200 ml / ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) dry white wine (optional)
- about 1.5 liters (6¼ cups) stock or water
- Salt, pepper
To serve
- 1 fish fillet per person (cod, sea bream, sea bass)
For the rouille sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 pinch saffron (optional)
- 1 level Tbsp mustard
- 2 egg yolks (very fresh)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) neutral oil (I like a blended vegetable oil)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) olive oil
- Salt
This fish soup is especially tasty and easy to make, even on a weeknight. Best of all, it uses the parts you might have thrown away, when in fact they are the main ingredient of this recipe. You can also make it without adding the fish fillets.
How to make homemade fish soup
Pour the oil into a Dutch oven and sweat the garlic, onion, carrots and celery for a few minutes. Add the fish heads, bay leaves and thyme. Deglaze with the white wine (if using), then add the tomato paste. Pour in enough water to cover everything.
Bring to a boil, lower to medium heat and cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, if you like, steam the fish fillets. When the soup is done (check by piercing the vegetables with a knife), use a slotted spoon to lift out the onion, carrots and garlic cloves and put them in the blender (not the celery, to avoid strings in the soup).
Strain the rest of the broth through a sieve fine enough to catch the bones, pressing well to extract all the cooking juices. Add this liquid to the blender.
My little trick here is to pick the flesh from the cheeks and head of the fish and blend it with the rest. It’s a very tender part that would be a shame to throw away, and it deepens the flavor of the soup.
- Blend everything and serve piping hot in bowls or soup plates, with the fish fillet, alongside toasted baguette, homemade rouille sauce and, if you like, some grated cheese.
🐟 If you’d like to know more about fish in Israel, I’ve written a practical guide and French-Hebrew fish glossary so you can find your way around and discover all the options available to you !