We understand seasonings for fish soup: pepper, bay leaf, vodka, firebrand, purchased and homemade spice mixtures

Do you need seasoning for fish soup? Avid fishermen are categorically against it. Real fish soup is very different from fish soup. A minimum of ingredients and spices are placed in it. A lot of fresh “thick” fish of 2-4 types, a handful of salt, a couple of peppercorns, onions - that’s all you need. But not everyone can be a fisherman, but they still want to taste delicious fish soup. In this case, fish soup recipes come to the rescue. For them, seasonings and spices are a must. They help remove the smell of mud and make the soup very piquant and appetizing.

The most popular spices and seasonings for fish soup

Any fish soup, be it traditional ukha or its likeness, should have the smell and taste of fish - juicy, sweetish.

Seasonings must be used in very measured doses. Main spice for fish soup:

• Peppercorns. You can use black, allspice, white, and red pepper. Peas are placed in the broth for aroma and warming taste. Pepper goes great with fish.

Additionally you can use:

• Bay leaf. For 3 liters of fish soup, use no more than 2 bay leaves.This is a strong spice that helps get rid of the smell of mud. But at the same time it kills all the pleasant aromas.
• Fresh greens. Any herbs can be combined with fish broth - dill, parsley, green onions. It enriches the dish with vitamins, gives freshness and bright taste.
• Burnt onions and carrots. Vegetables pre-roasted on a fire or in a dry frying pan acquire a special flavor and release their juices better.
• Celery. Petioles and celery root go well with the bright smell of fish. They give the soup a light spicy aroma and a bittersweet taste.
• Fresh tomatoes. Added by some fishermen. It is believed that one tomato or 2-3 tbsp. Spoons of tomato paste can greatly enhance your fish soup. Tomatoes eliminate the taste of mucus and mud, and at the same time combine perfectly with the natural fishy smell.

No other seasonings or spices are needed if the fish for the fish soup is chosen correctly. First of all, it must be fresh, with bright gills and clear eyes. The dish is always prepared with heads and fins, which contain a lot of fat. Only the gills and intestines are removed; the sturgeon is skinned. The best fish for fish soup are perch, carp, pike perch, crucian carp, carp, salmon, and pike. It is not recommended to use roach, minnows, bream, ram and roach.

Seasoning “Siberian soup” from Trapeza

The aromatic mixture can greatly facilitate the preparation of fish soup. It already contains millet and potatoes, with which they love to cook fish soup in Russia. It contains pieces of dried vegetables, several types of pepper, salt, dill and parsley. A bag weighing 130 g costs about 50 rubles. It is designed for 2.3 liters of water and 700 g of fish. The recipe on the package states that nothing else needs to be added to the soup.

Seasoning “For Russian fish soup” from “Magic of the East”

Budget seasoning contains all the necessary spices for preparing fish soup. Contains:

• dried onions;
• dried carrots;
• dried red hot pepper;
• parsley;
• dill;
• allspice;
• Bay leaf;
• black pepper;
• celery root;
• iodized salt;
• lemon acid.

How to prepare a ready-made fish soup spice mixture yourself?

If you want to make the taste and aroma of your fish soup more complex, original and rich, you can prepare a mixture of spices yourself. There are several options:

• "Universal". You need to mix equal amounts of peppercorns: black, red, white, green, allspice. For 1 part pepper mixture, take 1 part dried onion, 1 part dill and 1 part dried carrots. Store in a glass jar.
• "For red fish." Mix equal amounts of dried parsley, dill, basil, parsnips and black pepper. Grind. Separately grind tarragon, rosemary and bay leaf, taken in a ratio of 1:1:0.5. Combine 3 parts of the first mixture and 1 part of the second.
• "For river fish." Combine 20 g black peppercorns, 10 g allspice, 10 g dill, 10 g parsley, 5 g dried garlic, 5 g bay leaf and 3 g nutmeg.

Note. Ground spices are added to the fish soup 2-5 minutes before the soup is ready.

Salamur

Salamur is a spicy, spicy seasoning for the fish soup. Its other name is lok. The ljok is served in a separate bowl, and everyone adds it to the finished dish as desired. The seasoning is widespread in Ukrainian Bessarabia and the Danube region. Here the fish soup is served in a mug. A mountain of steaming white fish lies separately. A piece of fish is dipped in salamur and washed down with fish soup from a mug. It tastes great!

Ingredients for salamur:

• 0.5 kg of tomatoes;
• 1 head of garlic;
• 2 chili peppers;
• 2 tbsp.spoons of wine vinegar (can be apple or table);
• 2-3 tbsp. spoons of fish soup (you can use broth or vegetable oil);
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns;
• 2 teaspoons of coarse salt (to taste).

Recipe:

1. Pour chopped garlic, salt and peppercorns into a mortar. Crush into porridge.
2. Roast hot peppers in a dry frying pan. Finely chop with a knife.
3. In a bowl, mix garlic porridge and pepper.
4. Peel the tomatoes and grate them into a bowl.
5. Pour in vinegar and stir.
6. At the end, dilute the seasoning with fish soup, preferably the one that has drained from the boiled fish onto a plate.

Fish soup recipes with spices

There is no single standard in preparing fish soup. Somewhere it is prepared from only river fish and onions, and in another place they always add millet and a shot of vodka. There is Finnish fish soup with cream, and there is seafood soup. Each recipe has its own set of spices.

Grandfather's recipe for fish soup in a cauldron

The main secret of grandfather's fish soup is to add water to the fish, and not vice versa. Ingredients:

• 2 kg of freshly caught fish: perch, pike, chub (you need to fill 2/3 of the pot);
• 1 liter of water;
• 1 large onion;
• a handful of peppercorns and salt.

Recipe:

1. Clean the fish from scales, cut out the intestines, and put them in a treasury.
2. Fill with cold water.
3. Cut off the root of the onion and make a cross-shaped cut. Place in water without removing the husk.
4. Hang the cauldron over the fire, add cold water to the very edge.
5. Make the fire hotter. Do not cover the ear. Soon the water will boil and the foam will flow out on its own. The fire will subside, and the ear will languish.
6. There is no need to stir the dish. After boiling, add black peppercorns and salt.
7. Remove the cauldron from the heat when the fish's eyes turn white (after 7-15 minutes). Place on the ground in the herbs for 5-7 minutes.
8. Pour the hot soup into cups.They drink it with herbs and bread, after which they start eating fish.

Fish soup “a la ukha” at home

A worthy alternative to fish soup cooked over a fire. To prepare the dish you need to take:

• 1.5 kg of fish (pike perch, carp or other);
• 2 liters of water;
• 5 pieces. potatoes;
• 3 tbsp. spoons of millet;
• 2 carrots;
• 3 branches of celery;
• 1 onion;
• 3 pcs. carnations;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 2-3 bay leaves;
• 1.5 tbsp. spoons of peppercorn mixture;
• a bunch of green dill, onion and parsley;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of tomato paste;
• salt to taste.

Instead of individual spices, you can use ready-made fish soup seasoning. Recipe:

1. Prepare vegetable broth from 1 coarsely chopped carrot, 2 potatoes, celery, onions, herb stems and cloves. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat for half an hour.
2. Strain the broth from the vegetables. Mash the potatoes with a fork and return. Place the soup over low heat.
3. Clean the fish. Do not throw away heads, ridges, fins and tails. Separate the fillet and cut into large pieces.
4. Cut potatoes into small cubes and carrots into crescents. Chop the greens.
5. Put potatoes into the soup, after 5 minutes - all the fish, millet, bay leaf and peppercorns.
6. After 15 minutes, salt the soup, add tomato paste and carrots.
7. Let simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Add chopped herbs. Let sit covered for 10 minutes.

Finnish soup with cream

This is not quite the ukha that Russian residents are used to. It is different, creamy, creamy, very tasty. Just try a spoon and the plate will be empty in an instant.

It is prepared from the following products:

• 500 g trout or other red fish;
• 1.5 liters of water
• 3 pcs. potatoes;
• 1 carrot;
• 100 g celery root;
• 0.5 onions;
• 200 ml cream 30%;
• 100 g bacon;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar;
• 1 hourspoon of white pepper;
• 1 bay leaf;
• a bunch of dill and green onions;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of flour;
• salt to taste.

Cooking process:

1. Clean and cut the fish. Separate the fillet, remove the skin, remove the bones.
2. Make broth from the bones (20 minutes). After boiling, add coarsely chopped potatoes.
3. Place the fillet in 1 liter of cold water with the addition of 1 tbsp. spoons of sugar and 1 tbsp. spoons of salt.
4. Fry the bacon pieces in vegetable oil over very low heat.
5. Remove the fish “spare parts” from the broth. Throw in celery, onions and carrots, diced, and salt.
6. After 5 minutes, add white pepper and bay leaf.
7. After another 7 minutes, add cream.
8. Dilute flour with 100 ml of water. Finely chop the greens.
9. After 5 minutes, stirring, pour the diluted flour into the soup in a thin stream. After 1 minute, turn off the heat.
10. Add trout fillet in large pieces and a handful of greens to the soup. Cover with a lid and let stand for 10 minutes.
11. Serve topped with crispy bacon and herbs.

Questions and answers

Is it necessary to add vodka to your soup?

This issue is hotly debated. Some people believe that vodka makes the fish soup transparent, others help it not to harden, and still others use it for taste. But professional chefs assure that vodka disappears instantly. Most likely, adding vodka (moonshine) is a tribute to tradition. This is what our grandfathers and great-grandfathers did to appease the fish god.

Why do you put out a burning firebrand in your ear?

Today they do this to give the ear the smell of a fire. But if it is cooked over a fire in a cauldron without a lid, it is unnecessary to stew the firebrand. The soup will already absorb all the odors. Previously, fishermen did this solely to disinfect the fish soup. It was cooked from river water, and the coal from the firebrand played the role of an absorbent.

The choice of seasoning for fish soup is a delicate matter, largely depending on the specific recipe, and, of course, taste. If you need to prepare a classic fish soup outdoors with freshly caught fish, we recommend limiting yourself to pepper, roasted vegetables and herbs. Separately serve the salamur to the ear. When cooking at home, you can add bay leaf and celery to the standard set, or use ready-made seasoning. The main thing is to cook the fish soup with love, and then the result will certainly please you.