Marseille fish soup (Bouillabaisse)
8 servings
150 minutes
Marseille fish soup, or Bouillabaisse, is a typical dish of the French Mediterranean. It differs from most fish soups by the need to pre-fry the vegetables, as well as the meticulous preparation of the fish.
1
When all the ingredients are within arm's reach, you can start filleting the fish. To fillet the fish (our goal is to extract the fillet with the least bones), we place it belly side up, make an incision behind the gill fin, flip it over, make a similar incision, and cut off the head.
- Rainbow trout: 1 piece
- Sea bass: 1 piece
2
Then, make a cut along the spine to the tail on both sides and cut off the tail. It's better to use a large, very sharp knife so that the fillet comes off in one piece without torn fibers.
3
We take 2 pieces of fish fillet and carefully separate them from the skin with a knife (it's okay if some meat remains on the skin or spine — it will all go into the broth).
4
Carefully remove the remaining bones from the fillet with tweezers. Set the fillet aside.
5
We rinse the fish head from the gill remnants and remove the eyes. (This is not a very pleasant procedure; to make it easier and save time, you can use a simple peeler, like a vegetable slicer, to remove the eye with the sharp tip.)
6
Then we take tiger shrimp (better if they are fresh and with heads, if not, frozen ones will do just fine), cut off the heads, remove the shells - this will also go into the broth. (It's better to wash the heads. Legs, tails, eyes - all into the soup!:-)
- Tiger prawns: 6 pieces
7
When all the fish for the broth is ready, you can move on to the vegetables.
8
In a thick-bottomed pot, pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (not Extra Virgin), and add 6 chopped garlic cloves (more or less depending on how spicy you like your food).
- Garlic: 6 cloves
9
You can also add a bunch of chopped parsley with stems, simmer a bit, and when the garlic starts to brown, you can add celery and carrots.
- Parsley: 1 bunch
- Celery stalk: 3 pieces
- Young carrots: 2 pieces
10
The vegetables should be stewed for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Then pour a whole bottle of dry white wine and immediately 50 ml of sambuca (or Pernod anise liqueur) into the pot.
- Dry white wine: 750 ml
- Sambuca: 50 ml
11
We bring everything to a boil and add all the by-products left from the fish and shrimp. Let it simmer on medium heat for about 2 hours. (The longer it simmers, the richer the broth will be, but make sure the liquid doesn't evaporate, and if necessary, you can add another 2-3 cups of water).
- Rainbow trout: 1 piece
- Sea bass: 1 piece
- Tiger prawns: 6 pieces
- Water: 1 l
12
After 2-2.5 hours, when the celery and carrots can be easily mashed, remove the bones and heads and strain the broth through a sieve.
13
First, strain the entire broth, then place the vegetables in a cheesecloth and squeeze them by hand.
14
After straining the broth, pour it back into the pot, add the tomatoes in their own juice, heat it up, and without bringing it to a boil, add the medium-sized pieces of fish fillet, shrimp cut lengthwise (don't forget to remove the intestine from the back of the shrimp), halved scallops, and mussels.
- Tomatoes in their own juice: 1 jar
- Rainbow trout: 1 piece
- Sea bass: 1 piece
- Tiger prawns: 6 pieces
- Sea scallops: 8 pieces
- Mussels in shells: 10 pieces
15
Add 3 chili peppers (preferably dried) there and boil for another 10-15 minutes maximum.
- Chili pepper: 3 pieces
16
It's better to eat the soup the next day when it has steeped and become slightly spicy from the chili. Enjoy your meal!