Psarosoupa
A classic Greek home-style fish soup. Stock from fish bones and heads in which potatoes, carrot, celery and a little rice are cooked, with pieces of white fish added at the end. It is all thickened with avgolemono — eggs whisked with lemon juice — so the soup is creamy with no cream and pleasantly tangy. Plenty of olive oil adds depth. The key is that once the eggs are in, the soup must not boil again, or the eggs will curdle.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Fish stock 30 min
- Straining 10 min
- Vegetables 15 min
- Rice 15 min
- Fish 10 min
- Avgolemono 5 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the stock
Rinse the fish bones and heads, put them in a pot with the onion and bay leaf, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Skim and simmer 30 minutes. Simmering bones longer makes the stock bitter.
Ingredients: 500 g white fish bones and heads (gills removed) · 1 pcs onion · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2000 ml water
Half an hour — no longer, or it turns bitter.Strain
Strain the stock through a sieve lined with muslin. You should have about 1.5 litres.
Ingredients: 500 g white fish bones and heads (gills removed) · 1 pcs onion · 1 pcs bay leaf · 2000 ml water
Cook the vegetables
Cut the potatoes and carrots into 2 cm dice and slice the celery. Add to the stock with the olive oil and salt and simmer 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 500 g cod or hake fillet · 3 pcs potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 2 pcs celery · 80 ml olive oil · 60 g short-grain rice · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Olive oil in the stock — the soup gains depth.Add the rice
Add the rinsed rice and simmer 15 minutes, until tender.
Ingredients: 500 g cod or hake fillet · 3 pcs potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 2 pcs celery · 80 ml olive oil · 60 g short-grain rice · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Add the fish
Cut the fillets into 4 cm pieces and add to the soup. Simmer gently 6–8 minutes, until the fish turns opaque and starts to flake. Take the pot off the heat.
Ingredients: 500 g cod or hake fillet · 3 pcs potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 2 pcs celery · 80 ml olive oil · 60 g short-grain rice · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Make the avgolemono
In a bowl whisk the eggs until foamy and add the lemon juice in a thin stream. Still whisking, slowly pour in 2 ladles of the hot soup — the eggs warm up and do not curdle.
Ingredients: 2 pcs eggs · 2 pcs lemons, juice
Slowly, ladle by ladle — the eggs will not curdle.Thicken the soup
Pour the avgolemono into the pot, gently shaking it rather than stirring so the fish stays whole. Set over low heat 2–3 minutes until the soup thickens — do not let it boil.
Ingredients: 2 pcs eggs · 2 pcs lemons, juice
Serve
Season with pepper, and with salt if needed. Serve at once, with bread.
Ingredients: 500 g cod or hake fillet · 3 pcs potatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 2 pcs celery · 80 ml olive oil · 60 g short-grain rice · 2 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
Before you start
Which fish
In Greece rockfish, sea bass or hake are used. Any firm white fish works; ask the fishmonger for bones and heads with the fillet.
The Greek way
In many homes the fish and vegetables are served separately on a platter drizzled with oil and lemon, and the soup with rice in bowls.
Storage
Avgolemono soup is best eaten at once. It keeps a day in the fridge, but reheat it very gently without boiling.
