Fill: In a large stockpot, place well-washed fish heads or tails, add aromatics such as bay leaves, peppercorns, and onions. Season with salt and fill with enough water to barely cover all ingredients.
Simmer: Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then lower heat so that it barely simmers with an occasional bubble. Gently simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain: Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the broth into a medium size stockpot. Separate the fleshy pieces of the fish and discard the carcass.
Base for Quick Fish Soup
Fill: In a medium stockpot, place well-washed fish fillets, add aromatics such as bay leaves, peppercorns, and onions. Season with salt and fill with water about ⅔ full.
Simmer: Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat so that it barely simmers. Gently simmer until the fish has cooked through (approx. 10 minutes).
Remove: Remove the fish fillets and onion from the pot. When cool enough to handle, peel the skin off the fish fillets and flake with a fork. Discard onions. You can keep the broth in the pot and remove any visible scum with a small sieve.
Fish Soup
Cook: To a medium size pot full of base fish stock, add diced potatoes and sliced carrots and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender (approx. 6 minutes)
Add: Transfer the cooked salmon meat from the fish head or the fish fillet to the pot and simmer for 2-3 more minutes.
Garnish: Take the soup off heat. Squeeze in some lemon juice, garnish with fresh dill and slice of fresh lemon.
Notes
Storage: Transfer leftover fish head soup to an airtight container or keep it in the pot with a lid. Store in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Helpful Tips:
Using fish heads - If you want an authentic fish head soup, use 3-4 pounds of fish head and tails for a more robust flavor. You can also follow this detailed recipe forfish stock for all my tips and tricks.
Use fish fillets to save time - If you're short on time, use 2-3 fish fillets, weighing 6 ounces each. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the fillets, peel off the skin, and flake the fish. From there, simply add potatoes and carrots directly to the fish stock and return the flaked fish.
Start with clean fish - Whether you use fish heads, tails, or fillets, make sure to wash them thoroughly first under cold running water to remove any impurities and debris, ensuring a clean broth.
Straining the broth - Though not necessary if you use fish fillets, straining the broth is recommended if you use fish heads. Elements in fish heads and tails make the broth unsavory.
Know your fish - I prefer to make this fish soup with salmon, but I've also used white-fleshed fish like carp, red snapper, and sturgeon. Salmon is an oily fish and therefore will produce a richly-flavored broth, even with the fillets, but if you want a light soup, go with a white fish.
The information shown above is an estimate provided for your convenience by an online calculator. It should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. Please see our complete Nutritional Information Disclaimer.