Bouillabaisse

when zzz told me he’s making bouillabaisse for dinner, my immediate reaponse was a “huh?”. And he said “I’m cooking seafood soup”.

Yup. I have no idea on what these fancy/foreign names refer to. Just gimme the yummy stuff. I’ll try to remember these names, erm maybe.

bouillabaisse

Recipe (for 4)

Stock

stock

1 L water
1 piece of kombu ( about 3″ by 4″)
1 onion, peeled and halved
600g meaty fish bones (i used salmon bones)
prawn shells  and heads
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of coriander stalks
a piece of orange peel (about 3″ by 1″)
1 pinch of fennel seeds
1 pinch of dried rosemary
5 whole black peppercorns
a tiny piece of cinnamon

Slowly bring all ingredients for the stock to a boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes. It should be tasty, if not, simmer longer. Turn off heat and cover tightly. Allow to cool for half and hour. The flavours will continue to develop in the residual heat.

Strain, pressing down to extract all the juices from the bones and shell. Either keep in the fridge/freezer for use in another day or stand aside for later use.

Base

base

1 fennel, thinly sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
coriander leaves (your desired amount), roughly chopped
12 very ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
salt
2 tablespoon white wine/vermouth/mirin/rice wine (optional)
a pinch of saffron

Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a heavy pot. Add fennel, gently fry  with a wooden ladle in medium heat for 5 min. Add garlic, fry for 1 min. Add coriander leaves and tomatoes. Add salt and fry for 5 min or till the bottom of the pot just starts to caramelise. Add wine if using. if not add a ladle of stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan. Add saffron.  Add all of the stock and bing to boil slowly.

Fish

fish

About 1 kg of assorted fish (I used prawns, scallops, salmon and thread fin)

Just before serving, add fish into the pot of simmering stock. It does not take long for the fish to just cook through. Remove the fish and place them decoratively into the serving bowls. Add ladles of soup and serve immediately with toasted baguette or croutons.