I’ve been making beef and chicken stock for many years, but fish stock, not so much. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve been perfecting my technique. Yesterday I made an amazing stock that was so good I ended up pouring it in a glass and drinking it plain. Here’s how I made it:
- 1 9-pound whole rockfish. I had the fishmonger gut it, filet it, and give me it with the bones and head.
- Carrots, celery, yellow onion in 1:1:2 proportions.
- A chunk of leek.
- A herb package made with parsley, dill, thyme, and a couple of bay leaves, wrapped by a single leek layer and tied with butcher’s twine.
- 4-5 brown button mushrooms.
First, I put the fish bones in cold water and brought it to a boil. As soon as it boiled, I drained the water and saved the bones. I learned this technique to remove scum and make clearer stock when I learned to make pho broth last year.
I put all the ingredients in a large pot, along with the boiled bones, and cover ed it with water. I brought it up to a boil then simmered for 3 hours.
I also had some amazing red spot prawn shells leftover which I added to the broth later and gave it an incredible flavor.
A couple of mistakes I made before:
- I used to add too many prawn shells which makes it taste less like fish and more like shrimp (duh).
- I didn’t cook it long enough. Now I taste it (after adding some salt) and keep cooking down until it’s nice and potent.
- I rarely use herbs for my chicken or beef broths, but I think for fish it brings an extra, subtle complexity that’s really nice with the more delicate fish flavor.
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