How to make a Fish Stock

When it’s so quick and easy to make your own beautiful fresh stock, I really find it hard to understand why anyone would settle for using generic shop bought stock cubes.

This recipe shows how to make a beautifully balanced and deliciously delicate fish stock using the left over head, bones and trimmings of white or pale pink fish such as the Salmon shown here.

Ingredients

1 Salmon head
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stick
2 bay leaves
12 peppercorns
200 ml of dry white wine (optional)
1.5 l of water

Directions

Cut the vegetables into even pieces and place in a large saucepan with the fish head.

Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, wine and water to the pan.

Bring to the boil. Simmer fish stock for 20 minutes only; longer cooking will make the stock bitter.

During the simmering, skim off the scum as it rises to the surface of the liquid.

Strain the stock over a bowl. Press the solid with a spoon to extract all the liquid before setting aside to cool.

Note: While you can use quite a variety of fish in this stock recipe, strong flavoured oily fish such as mackerel should be avoided.

Recipes that use Fish Stock:

Lobster Bisque with Rouille Sauce and Croutons
Australian Bouillabaisse served with Aioli and Croutons

Note: In our Bouillabaisse recipe, we have replaced the wine by a tablespoon of Rum in order to bring extra flavour to the dish.