Fish soup is the most delicious dish cooked in nature, over a fire. It retains all the beneficial substances inherent in fish. Even if you cook soup from it using only the heads. Pike head soup is rightfully considered one of the most delicious, healthy and dietary first courses.
Therefore, when cutting pike, you should not throw away this part. It will serve as the main ingredient for a rich and quickly prepared broth.
How to choose pike for fish soup?
Before preparing pike fish soup, it is important to know a few rules for choosing fish. Four useful tips:
- The main thing is to always buy only live fish. But if this is not possible, then it is important to immediately inspect the gills. If they are red, this indicates the freshness of the fish.
- The eyes should not be cloudy. If there are spots, yellowness or different shades on the scales, the fish was defrosted and vice versa.
- Before buying, you need to remember that fresh fish has a subtle marine smell. But the pungent aroma indicates that the pike is stale.
- Tip: Press the fish with your fingers. If the hole does not fall into place, the carcass is stale. The meat should be elastic.
Pike soup at home (classic recipe)
This is a unique fish; all parts of the carcass can be used in preparing various dishes. For fish soup, a cut off head, fins and tail are suitable. This is a very simple and successful way to prepare fish soup, there is nothing superfluous in it. The broth turns out healthy and tasty, especially for those who do not want to gain excess weight.
Ingredients:
- pike (remains - heads, ridges, etc.);
- bulb;
- carrots – 2-3 pcs.;
- potatoes – 1 pc.;
- cereal (any) – 100 gr.;
- salt pepper.
Cooking steps:
1. I cut off the gills from the heads, washed them and put them together with the rest of the carcass in a saucepan. She poured cold water into it, then put the pan on the stove.
2. It is important to stay close to the stove and watch for the appearance of foam on the boiling water. To make the broth transparent, you need to remove all the foam.
3. Peeled the carrots and onions. I placed them in the pan without cutting them. I added a little salt. I carefully pulled the cooked ingredients out of the broth. Fish separately, vegetables also separately.
4. Strain the broth, removing seeds and other residues. Pour it back into the pan. I salted it and added spices (bay leaf, peppercorns).
5. I chopped the boiled carrots finely and added them to the broth.
6. While stirring, pour semolina into the pan and chopped potatoes.
To make the soup more satisfying, in addition to potatoes, you can add barley or millet to it. For those who want a lighter dish, use semolina. The basic rule when adding semolina is to stir it continuously to prevent lumps from forming, and cook for no more than 1 minute.
7. I cut the fish, separating the bones. When finished, she placed it in the broth and turned up the heat.
8. All you have to do is wait until the potatoes are cooked and the wonderful “pike soup” is ready. The smell is amazing, it’s a shame that you can’t smell it. You should definitely cook it yourself and try it, then you can enjoy a very delicate, subtle, barely sweet taste.
This is a wonderful dish, loved by fishermen and ordinary housewives. It turns out especially delicious outdoors, with smoke, when cooked over a fire, but it’s just as good at home.
By the way, read more on this topic: Trout soup: recipe
How to prepare a pike head for soup?
The predator's head must be washed thoroughly. The gills should be cut out of it, otherwise the taste of the fish soup will be bitter. The eyes also need to be removed.
You need to cut out the gills more carefully, otherwise you can get hurt. After all, this predator has teeth on them too.
To safely remove the gills, you need to turn the pike on its back, holding its head in your hand. With the other hand, using a sharp, short knife, you need to cut the frenulum.
Let's celebrate! Then run the knife inside the head from below and on both sides.
Thus, both the gills and the rather sharp teeth can be easily removed. The pike head is then considered prepared.
Secrets of making fish soup from a pike head
There are many secrets in preparing different dishes. This also affected pike fish soup.
Namely:
- To achieve transparency of the broth and get a rich fish soup, it is recommended to take live or completely fresh fish. Frozen pike ukha will not be as tasty and aromatic. And the profit won’t be the same;
- During the cooking process, the broth will have to be strained. You should take gauze. It may not be possible to strain thoroughly through a strainer;
- to obtain a more noticeable sensation of fishy taste, it is better to simmer the broth in a cast iron cauldron;
- some advise adding a little vodka (50 - 100 ml) and a pinch of sugar just before turning off;
- the ear of their pike heads is served with white soft bread and fresh herbs, which should be finely chopped;
- It is better not to choose fish that are too large. A few small ones will do instead. The ideal option is to throw in some small change along with the pike heads for fat.
Pike heads in sour cream
Pike heads 4 pcs.
Three cloves of garlic.
1 tsp. dried oregano and basil.
Refined oil for frying vegetables and fish.
1. Thoroughly rinse the pike heads and place them in a colander to drain all the water.
2. Fry the heads in sunflower oil on all sides. There is no need to fry too much.
3. Cut the garlic into medium pieces and fry in oil after the fish for about 30 seconds.
4. Separately sauté the onion and carrot slices.
5. Mix sour cream, water, sauteed garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
6. Place fish heads in a deep bowl with a lid, then sauteed vegetables and pour sour cream sauce.
7. Place in the oven and cook at 200C for about 25 minutes.
Pike head soup - recipes
Many dishes can be prepared from pike, or rather its head. The most famous and often prepared is fish soup in a pot. Of course, it is prepared outdoors after a successful fishing trip.
The classic recipe is used by many housewives in the kitchen. This soup is prepared quickly, without any tricks.
“Opekanaya” is a delicious fish soup that requires a lot of work to prepare. But both the fish soup and the meat itself will have an exquisite, unusual taste. You can add millet if you wish, then the broth will be more reminiscent of a classic soup. And, of course, it will be thicker and more satisfying.
Note! Fish soup “royally” is rightfully considered an expensive festive dish that requires patience, expense and time. But such fish soup can be placed on the table for dear guests.
Classic recipe
Before cooking fish soup, the pike head must be washed and the gills and eyes removed. The soup should be cooked over low heat.
Ingredients:
- pike heads – 0.5 kg;
- onion – 2 pcs. (small size);
- potatoes – 3 pcs.;
- water – 2 l.;
- lemon – 1 small;
- breadcrumbs - 1 tbsp;
- sunflower oil – 1 tbsp;
- a bunch of parsley, green onions;
- laurel – 1 pc.;
- salt, pepper, nutmeg (grated).
Preparation:
Dip the prepared heads into a container of water. After the water has boiled, skim off the foam. Then you need to cook for half an hour over low heat, adding a bay leaf, a whole onion and a tied bunch of parsley. Take everything out after half an hour, including the greens and onions. Remove meat from pike heads.
You will need vegetables: finely chopped onions, carrots - into rings or slices, potatoes - into strips. Saute the carrots and onions, place the sauté with breadcrumbs and potatoes in the fish soup. Add salt and cook for 15-20 minutes. Add meat and turn off heat. Squeeze a little lemon juice and add spices. Serve in a plate with a wedge of lemon.
Ear of pike heads – “Wardened”
By lightly frying the fish, you can give the fish soup an original taste.
Ingredients:
- medium pike – 1 pc. (400 grams);
- potatoes – 80 g;
- carrots – 1 pc.;
- onion – 1 pc.;
- egg – 1 pc.;
- flour – 1 tbsp;
- butter – 25 g;
- spices, salt to taste;
- parsley – 2 stalks with leaves.
Preparation:
Cut the fish, removing the tail, fins, and eyes. Cut the meat 4 cm wide. After peeling, cut the vegetables into small cubes. Finely chop the greens. Place the vegetables, as well as the head of the pike, along with its fins and tail, in boiling water.
Add some salt. Turn down the heat and cook for 20 minutes. Cover the container with a lid. Afterwards, strain the broth. Then add spices, add salt to taste and lower the fish pieces along with the head. Boil over low heat for 5 minutes.
Mix the egg with a spoonful of flour and roll the pieces of cooked fish in the resulting batter. Then fry in oil, that is, bake. Because of this process, the dish received its name. Place the fried pieces in the ear for 5 minutes. and add greens. Turn off the heat and let it brew.
Pike head soup with millet
Cereals, such as semolina or millet, are often added to the soup. With millet, pike head fish soup will be more homemade and good for children.
Ingredients:
- pike head – 1 pc.;
- potatoes – 2 pcs. average;
- carrots – 1 pc. small size;
- millet – 200 g;
- salt to taste;
- bay leaf – 1 pc.;
- water – 1.5 l.
Preparation:
Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into small cubes. Pour the prepared millet into a pan of boiling water. While the millet is boiling, grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Salt boiling water with millet, add vegetables.
Prepare the pike head - remove gills and eyes. Afterwards, put it in your ear. Cook for 15 minutes, remembering to stir. Add bay leaf and after 5 minutes turn off the heat.
Ukha "royally"
Preparing such a dish is not difficult, but it will take several hours. But all the time spent will more than pay off with an exquisite and special taste.
Ingredients:
- domestic rooster (you can take a chicken) - up to 1.5 kg;
- pike – 1 kg;
- pike perch – 1 kg;
- onion – 2 pcs.;
- wheat onion - a bunch;
- carrots – 2 pcs.;
- garlic – 4 cloves;
- vodka – 50 ml;
- black pepper – 3 pcs.
Preparation:
Place the prepared rooster or chicken in a large container with cool water. Boil. After 5 minutes of cooking, the broth must be drained. Place the carcass in clean water and cook for at least three hours.
While the bird is cooking, you need to clean the fish. Separate the fins, head, and tail. All parts will be needed. Only the cut gills should be discarded. Rinse. Remove the cooked bird from the pan and put in the fins, head and tail of the pike.
Boil for half an hour. Pull it out. Add chopped pike. After 20 minutes of cooking, you also need to remove it. Then add pike perch and chopped vegetables with spices. Cook for up to 20 minutes. Remove the greens, add salt and add vodka. Cover with a lid and let sit for 15 minutes. Ukha “royally” is served with fresh finely chopped herbs.
Pike soup on fire
Many dishes can be prepared from pike. But especially fishermen consider fish soup cooked over a fire to be the most delicious.
Ingredients:
- pike – 1.5 kg;
- onion – 2 pcs. (average);
- carrots – 1 pc. large size;
- potatoes – 4 pcs.;
- birch chips;
- salt, pepper to taste;
- bay leaf – 2-3 pcs.;
- greens, lemon.
Preparation:
The fish needs to be prepared: remove the tail and also the head. Don't forget to separate the inner film from the meat. Place the whole onion and bay leaf into a pot of boiling water. Add black peppercorns.
After boiling for 5 minutes, remove all ingredients. They won't be needed anymore. Dip the cut potatoes into the fish soup. Boil for 15 minutes. Then put the rest of the chopped vegetables and pieces of pike into the pot.
Salt and pepper to taste. The fish meat should be cooked for 10 minutes. Then remove the pot, cover with a lid and place in a secluded place. Let the ear simmer for 7-8 minutes.
To give the dish something unusual, take birch chips, set it on fire and put it in a pot. This will make the soup “smoky”. A few drops of squeezed lemon will add some piquancy. It is better to choose pikes that are not too large. This will make the meat more tender.
Let's celebrate! Pike fish soup can be cooked in different ways. But for a truly tasty and healthy dish you will need live or very fresh fish. When preparing any fish soup, you must remember to turn down the heat. It is better for the broth to simmer than to boil. It is important to serve the fish soup with herbs and bread. And remember - the most important thing in the ear is the broth, not the meat. Therefore, even fish heads can also make a decent dish.
Pike heads in the oven
You can cook an even more appetizing dish from this part of the fish in the oven. To prepare, take 5 heads of pike, a glass of walnuts (peeled), 5-6 peeled cloves of garlic, two onions, a glass of water slightly diluted with vinegar, spices, salt and bay leaf. We wash the heads and remove the gills and eyes. Then scald them with boiling water and rub them with a mixture of salt, spices and garlic. Place the heads on a baking sheet lined with foil. Add chopped onion to them. Close the foil so that there are no holes left. Cooking pike heads with garlic. The recipe in the oven will definitely find its fans. The dish takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare.
At the end of cooking, you can open the foil and let the heads brown. You can serve potatoes or boiled rice as a side dish; stewed or fresh vegetables and herbs would also be appropriate. And remember that the beautiful presentation of this dish is also very important. Fans of fish delicacies will appreciate pike heads prepared in different ways. You can enjoy this dish even while fishing, and then it will acquire a piquant smoky smell.
