The Best of the Chef: Winter Soups - Salvadorian Fish Soup

It's Friday and it's cold so we can't think of a better winter soup that is also healthy than this soup from the archives of Chef Larry Edwards. Mind you, when we first went through this recipe, we looked at the steps and said "ummm, no way we are butchering a fish." We got around this messy problem by having our butcher cut the fish up for us.

A few of us prepared this soup and it really is very tasty. It does have a lot of ingredients but since most of them are herbs, it shouldn't really be that daunting. We actually stole this recipe from the Chef's first cookbook!

Ingredients needed to make Salvadorian Fish Soup (serves 4):

• 1 large sea bass, gutted but head and tail still intact
• 2 yellow onions, unpeeled and quartered
• 1 carrot, halved
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled and whole
• 16 sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 whole cloves
• 12 whole black peppercorns
• 1 Tbs. salt
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 white onion, thinly sliced
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced
• 8 red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered

Steps:

1. Rinse the sea bass under cold water, removing the scales as you do so. Remove the head and cut out the gills, Remove the tail and the fins. Cut the body of the fish into eight pieces.

2. In a stockpot bring 7 cups water to a boil. Add the fish head, tail, fins, yellow onion, carrot, celery, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns and salt. Bring back to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes.
3. Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard all the solids.
4. In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the white onion and sauté 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and Serrano peppers and sauté 8 minutes.
5. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 40 minutes.
6. Add the fish, cook 15 minutes and then serve.

** Inside Google calls Chef Larry Edwards "quite possibly the most popular Chef in the world" and now you can find out what Chef Larry Edwards has coming up in the kitchen, on the road, in the restaurants and in the media by joining him on Facebook where the Chef's snarky personality and often controversial comments are always sure to cause a stir!