Now let’s cook
The heads go into the broth and never reach the bowl. The rest of the fish fares better.
Ingredients
- 700 g river fishperch, ruffe or other river fish
- 1600 ml waterplain tap water
- 61 g carrota root vegetable, peeled and cut or grated
- 110 g onionbulb onion: the bulbs are peeled and cut
- 4 black peppercornswhole dried berries, not ground
- 1 bay leafdried leaf of the bay laurel: a spice for soups and boiled dishes
- 639 g potatotubers eaten as a vegetable
- 8 g saltfine table salt
- 5 g dillfresh dill leaves, used as an aromatic seasoning
Method
Gut 700 g of small river fish, such as perch and ruffe, remove the gills and scrape off the scales. Cut off all the fins with scissors, the tail fin too. Cut off the heads and leave the fish whole.
Pour 1.6 litres of water into a pan and add the heads, the peeled carrot, the washed onion in its skin, 4 black peppercorns and a bay leaf. Bring to the boil over a low heat, skim off the foam and simmer the broth for 10 minutes.
While the broth simmers, peel 639 g of potatoes (about three medium ones) and cut them into small dice.
Strain the broth through a sieve into a clean pan. Throw away the heads and the onion, slice the carrot into rounds and return it to the broth.
Add the potatoes and the headless fish, bring the broth back to the boil and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes, until the flesh comes away from the bones easily: the thickest part of the fish should be at least 70 °C.
Salt the ukha with about 8 g of salt. Lift out the fish, divide it into portions and ladle the ukha into bowls with a piece of fish in each. Sprinkle with 5 g of chopped dill and serve at once.
Where this dish comes from
Ukha is an old Russian soup, traditionally the first course of a meal: a clear broth of fresh fish. It is made with river fish from running water. The broth is usually cooked first from small fish, such as ruffe and perch, and strained. Ukha is served hot, with pieces of fish and chopped herbs.
