Coconut Garlic Fish Soup

There are so many people that talk about fish stock as being the best thing in the world. Problem is, it’s kinda fishy for me to drink on its own, and it is hard to find good recipes for fish soup that doesn’t call for exotic ingredients. (not that those soups are not amazing, but I don’t keep a lot of spices they call for.)

I bought a fish caracas from the grocery delivery service I sometimes use. I have no idea what kind of fish it was, but it had black skin. (it was sold as “fish for stock,” so it was a non oily fish.) Since it was used to make fancy fillets, there was still quite a bit of meat on the bones, I removed the extra pieces. (look, fish nuggets!). If you buy a whole fish, most fishmongers will fillet it for you, and give you the carcass. Many fishmongers will have extra carcasses around and will give them away or sell them cheap.

Put the fish carcass in a crock pot, add a few onions and some salt, cover in filtered water, add a splash of apple cider vinegar, and slow cook for 4-8 hours.

Strain the broth and cook. Pick any remaining pieces of meat off the bones, being careful of small bones.

I used a 4 quart crock pot, and got about 3 quarts of fish stock. I put the stock in the fridge overnight.

I started the soup by bringing the stock to a boil, and let it reduce by around half. After it reduced, I added a bag of chopped onions and carrots (about a cup of each or so, but add whatever you have around), and cook until soft. Add a can of coconut milk, and cook for a bit. Mince 3-5 cloves of garlic (5 cloves made it quite garlicky, but delicious), and about 1/2 inch of ginger, minced, and add to broth. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until delicious.

Add the fish that was picked from the carcass, and cook until heated. If you want more meat, you can cook the fish nuggets and add to the broth as well.

This made around 6-8 servings, depending on size.

Some notes: yes, this would be better for you with wild caught fish, and BPA free coconut milk. Using cheap ingredients, this cost me around $5 ($3 for the fish, $1 for the coconut milk, and around $1 for the vegetables). Use the best that you have and can afford for your family. This recipe is GAPS friendly, gluten and grain free, and dairy free.

Shared with Weekend Gourmet

Tags: coconut, dairy free, fish, gluten-free, Recipe, soup