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Fish stock

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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devondave

New Member
Oct 5, 2007
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For awhile now I've been thinking about posting a fish soup recipe , and to make a good soup you , of course , need a good stock .
My thought was that between us , spearos , chefs , cooks , fishmongers etc , we should be able to cococt the ultimate fish stock .
( Surely , the most essential ingredient for any sea food cook ? )

This is the stock recipe I use at the moment , please add comments , ideas , howls of derision , your own recipe etc .

First , all the ingredients except the herbs are chopped very fine , even the fish is cut into small pieces , this reduces the cooking time and avoids the chalky taste that occurs from over-cooking and means the stock is ruined .

As far as the fish goes , I use fresh or frozen fresh frames and trimmings of prime white fish , turbot and sole are best but use what you've got , no oily fish , guts or gills though . You can add shellfish but I keep mine for shellfish stock .

2kg fish frames and trimmings
4 sticks of celery
2 onions
2 carrots
1 med' fennel bulb
1/2 med' celeriac
few shallots
handful of button mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
small bunch of thyme
small bunch of parsley stalks
6 black pepper corns
big glass of white wine

Add all ingerients to a large stockpot , add white wine , place over medium heat and when the wine starts to bubble add sufficient water to cover the ingredients .
Bring to a gentle simmer , I don't time the stock , just keep tasting it and ladle off any scum that forms .
I think it's ready when the taste is clean and fishy , a bit gelatinous , fragrant from the herbs and veg' , almost good enough to serve as a dish and absolutely no chalk taste .
Now turn the heat off and leave to cool .
Strain the liquid and refrigerate if using within three days or freeze if keeping for longer .

So what do you think ? Is yours better ? What chefy tricks are used in stock-making ? Which fish do people from different parts of the world use ?
In anticipation ,
Regards ,
Dave .
 
Sounds like you've got all the bases covered with that recipe Dave. I did make stock once but I tend to leave stock making to the expert now - which is not me. But you seem to have everything that I could think of & then some. Maybe leaks?
 
i think a fish stock should be simple just onion, leek,fish frames,carrot and maybe a little bit of fennel.
u dnt need those really complex flavours in there, u put the pepper into the final dish so it is not needed here as for the herbs you may not want the taste of them in the final dish if you did you should add it to the dish later the stock should be simple and a base to something adding complex flavour should come later
 
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OK , two mentions of leek , and a professional chef who thinks my years of toiling over a hot stock-pot were a waste of time .
Bug*er !
It's true though , a simpler stock would be much more versatile . I guess I only use stock for strongly flavoured dishes these days , and should have thought more about it's overall use . Thanks for your input guys , food for thought ( ha ha ) .
 
I am not a great lover of fish stocks of fish soups but subtle sauces flavoured with a small amount of fish stock maybe? However fresh turbot, brill, & sole all have nice interesting flavours.
Of course my secrete fish accompanying sauce has ormer stock in it but that has no fish flavour at all!
So for my contribution to the ultimate soup would be ormer stock unfortunately you will have to visit Guernsey to taste it.
 
foxfish said:
So for my contribution to the ultimate soup would be ormer stock unfortunately you will have to visit Guernsey to taste it.
Click to expand...
Why ' unfortunately ' ? Guernsey sounds a fantastic place to visit/live and ormer stock makes it sound even more worthwhile ( as does that Sark butter ) .
 
As for my stocks, whether fish, shrimp, crab or lobster, I only use onion and celery and very small slice of lemon as mellowers. The stock is simply a foundation or springboard as you would have it. Any further complexities or flavor variations come with the recipe building upon the stock.

The chalky flavor you complain about is due to evercooking or too high temp. The bones/shell disolve (removing "scum" is a definite plus) and calcify the stock. Low simmer and constant tasting as you point out is best. No putting on to simmer and off to watch the game. Stay in the kitchen and build your foundation.

As for fish to use - anything NOT oily.

Also store in ziplock bags or quality tubs with contents and DATE written in indelible marker (first). Five year old frozen stock tastes like death.

Keep stretching the envelope.
 
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Reactions: devondave
i usually just use fish, celery, carrots, and onion.


heres what i like to do with the stock: once everything has been strained i add potatoes more celery and any other vegetables that are around. then add i add coconut milk and spices. when everythings cooked turn off the broth and immediately add some lobster tail (if you dont have lobster it works with fillet chunk too). by turning off the pot you mske sure you dont over cook it.
 

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Reactions: agbiv
Common Ya'll...the stock is the ESSENCE! Adding stuff during the cooking or shall we say creating only places additional flavor profiles that can be added later. Make your BASIC stock and build up later. Your imaginations are great but go ahead and build a buillabaisse, chowders, soups, sauces, aspics, and even pastries later. By adding carrots, leeks, etc. You should be producing the FOUNDATION. Make the foundation and then, like a newly fledged bird, leap from the nest and fly!
 

True , true . . . but , well if you're a lazy cook like me , is there a case for a more flavoursome stock to use reduced for sauces .
You know , just boil it down , add some cold butter , pour over fresh grilled fish , convenience food !
Or should I really be making up individual , proper sauces , and freezing them ?
 
Yes and yes. If you're making the basic foundation for later go right ahead. Most seasoning will lose some zest when freezing just as in drying. Fresh is best. However in this world of go, go, go certainly freeze half of the sauce (not cream sauces, they tend to separate when reheating) and use later...but not too much later to avoid going, shall we say stale.

Try a bit of ginger in stock sometime. :friday
 
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Heres a pic to spice things up! Classic wrasse stock in the making....



one thing....
Celery, Celery, Celery! Essential.
 
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As an amateur cook my only advice is to remove the gills from any fish you are using for stock as boiled blood turns bitter! Also, in comparison to meat-based stock, you only really need to simmer the ingredients for 20 to 30 minutes. Wrasse forms an essential part of the famous bouillabaise as a stock ingredient so even if you don't like to eat them any other way, use them in fish stock!
 
Reactions: Lazuli
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