Sopa de Pescado Salvadoreña (Salvadorean Fish Head Soup)
Sopa de Pescado Salvadoreña (Salvadorean Fish Head Soup) is a traditional Salvadorean (from El Salvador) recipe for a classic soup of fish pieces carrot, potatoes and squash in a stock made from fish heads. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Salvadorean version of: Salvadorean Fish Head Soup (Sopa de Pescado Salvadoreña).
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This simple, economical and tasty fish soup counts amongst the national dishes of El Salvador. A fish head soup recipe that is a light, cheap, healthy, and delicious alternative to meat soups.
Ingredients:
675g fish heads
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
4 garlic cloves, sliced
150g auyama (kabocha squash), diced, divided
2 sprigs of coriander, or parsley
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
150g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
500g fish fillet, cut into small pieces
1 ½ tsp salt, (or more, to taste)
1 tsp black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground), or to taste
Method:
To prepare the base stock: Combine the fish heads, olive oil, lime juice, garlic and half the squash in a deep pan. Pour in 2.5l water. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over medium-high heat until the squash has broken down and the heads are cooked through and flake easily with a fork (about 30–35 minutes).
Remove the fish heads then pass the liquid through a fine-meshed sieve to remove all the solids. Dig out the neck and cheek meats from the fish heads and add these to the stock.
Pour the stock back into the pan then add the coriander, carrots, potatoes and the remaining squash pieces.
Bring to a simmer then cook, covered, over medium-low heat until the vegetables are just done through (about 10 minutes).
At this point add the fish fillet pieces to the pan and continue cooking until the fish is cooked through (about 5–10 minutes depending on thickness).
By this point the liquid should have reduced to about 1 to 1.2 litres (if it’s significantly below this top up with water and allow to heat through. If you have too much liquid continue simmering, uncovered, until reduced to your liking (note that this is not a thick soup).
Season to taste with salt and black pepper, remove from the heat, ladle into bowls and serve.
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