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magidLast week I bought a fish head*. In an impromptu grocery run, I saw packages of salmon heads with the trimmings (the meat near the frame, what's left once the fillets are cut off the frame), and decided it was time to try making something with fish heads.
When I opened the the package at home, I found it was actually half a fish head (the left, I believe). I started sauteeing some onions cut fairly small, then added some carrots and water. Once it was boiling, I slid the fish pieces in and set the timer for 20 minutes, which I think was a bit longer than I should have. When the timer dinged, I fished the pieces out (see what I did there?), pulling the meat off the bones. Once I'd separated it all, the bones (and the eyeball: I still can't bring myself to try it, however much I've read about how it's a delicacy) went into a bag I put in the freezer, waiting for spring to be planted under my tomatoes (or whatever plants look like they need a calcium boost). I put the fish back in the soup, then added lots of scallions and rice noodles. It wasn't quite right, so I added some tamari (I didn't have any miso around, which otherwise would have been my first guess), which got it a bit closer. I tasted, and it was still a bit flat, though with a nice, fatty mouthfeel. I tried lemon juice in one bowl of soup, which was ok, but not quite right either. Somehow, another 10-15 minutes of cooking, letting the things meld together more, ended up getting the soup to tasting like a coherent whole. And I got to slurp lots of noodles. The one downside: the first time in all the times I've cooked fish where there's been a pervasive fish smell in the house even a day later. (Luckily, I was eating the leftover soup that day, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.)
* Why yes, I did earworm myself, thanks for asking.
When I opened the the package at home, I found it was actually half a fish head (the left, I believe). I started sauteeing some onions cut fairly small, then added some carrots and water. Once it was boiling, I slid the fish pieces in and set the timer for 20 minutes, which I think was a bit longer than I should have. When the timer dinged, I fished the pieces out (see what I did there?), pulling the meat off the bones. Once I'd separated it all, the bones (and the eyeball: I still can't bring myself to try it, however much I've read about how it's a delicacy) went into a bag I put in the freezer, waiting for spring to be planted under my tomatoes (or whatever plants look like they need a calcium boost). I put the fish back in the soup, then added lots of scallions and rice noodles. It wasn't quite right, so I added some tamari (I didn't have any miso around, which otherwise would have been my first guess), which got it a bit closer. I tasted, and it was still a bit flat, though with a nice, fatty mouthfeel. I tried lemon juice in one bowl of soup, which was ok, but not quite right either. Somehow, another 10-15 minutes of cooking, letting the things meld together more, ended up getting the soup to tasting like a coherent whole. And I got to slurp lots of noodles. The one downside: the first time in all the times I've cooked fish where there's been a pervasive fish smell in the house even a day later. (Luckily, I was eating the leftover soup that day, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.)
* Why yes, I did earworm myself, thanks for asking.
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Date: 2013-01-24 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-24 08:51 pm (UTC)