Nordic Fish Chowder
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
1 hr 20 mins
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Cook Time
20 mins
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Total Time
1 hr 40 mins
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Servings
8 people
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Calories
213 kcal
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Course
Soup
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Cuisine
Scandinavian
Nordic Fish Chowder
Description
This Nordic Fish Chowder starts with a homemade broth made by simmering fish heads, bones, and seafood shells with aromatics like carrot, onion or leek, bay leaves, thyme, and optionally clam juice and white wine. The broth is strained to yield a clear but flavorful base. In a separate pot, butter sautés onions until translucent, then potatoes are added and cooked in the broth until tender. Fish and optional sea beans are introduced to warm through.
A liaison made by whisking egg yolks with heavy cream is slowly tempered into the chowder, giving it a thickened, rich texture without curdling. Dill is stirred in for fresh herbal notes and black pepper adjusts seasoning. The finished chowder offers a smooth, creamy consistency with tender seafood and delicate flavors from the broth and herbs.
This chowder suits a main meal during colder seasons and pairs well with rustic bread. Since it contains egg yolks and cream, leftovers are best consumed fresh or with broth and base prepared in advance separately and reheated before adding fish and dairy.
Ingredients
BROTH
- 1 fish heads and bones or smashed crab, crayfish, lobster or shrimp shells, to 2 pounds
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 onion chopped, or leek, large
- 2 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 1 whey to 2 cups or white wine
- 2 quarts water
- clam juice (optional)
CHOWDER
- 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 onion chopped roughly, large, yellow or white
- 1 to 2 pounds yellow waxy potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 fish or mixed seafood, to 2 pounds
- 1/4 cup sea beans (optional)
- black pepper to taste
- 2 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 dill chopped, to 3 tablespoons
Instructions
- If you are making the broth, do that first. Rinse your fish bones and heads under cold water. Remove the gills if they are still there; gills will turn a broth cloudy and make it bitter. Put the fish bones and other seafoody bits in a pot and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a simmer. Scum will rise to the top. Skim it off with a spoon. When the froth has subsided, drop the heat to a bare simmer, just a shimmy, really. Add the remaining ingredients and cook gently for 30 to 45 minutes. Strain and keep warm.
- To make the fish chowder, heat the butter in a soup pot and cook the onion over medium heat until it turns translucent. Don't let the onions brown. Add the potatoes and cover with broth by about an inch and simmer gently until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the fish and seafood, the sea beans and black pepper to taste. As these heat up, whisk the egg yolks with the heavy cream in a bowl. Using a ladle in one hand, and the whisk in another, slowly ladle some of the hot soup into the bowl with the egg-and-cream mixture -- all while whisking the mixture with the other hand. Repeat this two more times. What you are doing is tempering the egg yolks so they don't curdle. Add the contents of the bowl to the soup and stir to combine.
- Add the dill and let everything heat through, but do not let the chowder boil, or it might separate and look nasty. Serve with good bread and either white wine or a nice beer.
Notes
- Prepare the fish broth and chowder base (potatoes and onions) ahead of time and refrigerate before adding fish, dill, and cream to serve fresh chowder later.
- Remove fish gills before making broth to avoid bitterness and cloudiness in the soup.
- This chowder does not keep well after adding egg yolks and cream; consume soon after preparation.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 8people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 213 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 213kcal | 11% |
| Carbohydrates | 10g | 3% |
| Protein | 2g | 4% |
| Fat | 11g | 17% |
| Saturated Fat | 7g | 35% |
| Cholesterol | 81mg | 27% |
| Sodium | 34mg | 1% |
| Potassium | 237mg | 5% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
| Vitamin A | 1917IU | 38% |
| Vitamin C | 8mg | 9% |
| Calcium | 49mg | 5% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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