Spicy Fish Soup July 17, 2017
Here’s another recipe to warm you up on those cold winter nights, a Spicy Fish Soup by Ray McVinnie. Check out the original post here.
This dish uses as its basis the fish soup/stews that are found all around the Mediterranean. They lend themselves well to Kiwi ingredients. It is a bit like a Kiwi bouillabaisse of fish and mussels with harissa and slow fried vegetables. It can be prepared beforehand and finished in 10 minutes. Bought harissas are all of different strengths so I have specified the one that I used for this recipe. Otherwise adjust the flavour and spiciness of the soup to your taste. This is a hearty dish and can be used as a main course.
Ingredients
| 24 | Mussels, live, well scrubbed, beards removed |
| 100 ml | Dry white wine |
| 4 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 1 | Red onion, finely chopped |
| 4 cloves | Garlic, finely chopped |
| 1 medium | Carrot, peeled and diced 1cm |
| 1 stick | Celery, thinly sliced |
| 1 small | Fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced |
| 1 | Lemon, zested |
| 1 Ltr | Water |
| 4 Tbsp | Harissa paste, I used the Culley’s brand |
| 2 Tbsp | Tomato paste |
| 300 g | White fish fillets, cut into 2cm pieces; choose a firm fleshed variety for this |
| 2 Tbsp | Chopped parsley |
| 2 Tbsp | Chopped coriander |
| 6 servings | Flat bread, warmed |
Directions
- Put the mussels and wine into a saucepan over high heat. Cover and bring to the boil so they steam open, removing them as they do.
- Place the mussels in a bowl, cool and shell. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid. Pull the brown tongue and its white root (these are the tough bits) out of each mussel and discard.
- Slice the mussels thinly lengthways. Place in a bowl and pour the cooking liquid over them. Reserve.
- Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or wide saucepan and add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, fennel and zest. Fry gently, without browning, for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the mussel liquid to the pan, reserving the sliced mussels. Add the water, harissa and tomato paste, bring to the boil and simmer 5 minutes. The soup can be prepared to this stage a day in advance if desired.
- Add the fish and simmer 2-3 minutes or until the fish is just cooked, add the reserved mussels, the parsley and coriander. Mix well, taste, season and serve with warm flatbread.
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