Sea Bass Soup: Kakavia
Ingredients
2 servings
- Sea bass 1
- Water 1 l
- Onion 1
- Tomato 1
- Garlic 2 cloves
- Cream (milk) 0.5 cup (100 ml)
- Dill 2-3 sprigs
- Olive oil 3-4 tbsp
- Tomato paste 2 tsp (11 g)
- Flour 1 heaped tsp (5 g)
- Allspice berries 2-3 berries
- Black peppercorns a few peppercorns
- Bay leaf 1-2
- Salt, ground black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
Fish and broth
Let me say right away: it doesn’t have to be sea bass, any sea fish will do. Sea bream, flounder, mullet or spiny dogfish are all fine. But it’s better to use “white” fish. The flavor depends very much on the fish: the stronger and richer the broth, the tastier the soup.
Thaw the fish. Since sea fish is usually only available frozen, it has to be thawed first. It’s better not to leave it out in the air, but to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator. Overnight the fish thaws gently and reliably, losing practically none of its nutrients.
Prepare the fish: scale it, gut it, remove the gills and cut off the fillets, picking out the large bones. Set aside the tail, fins and bones for the broth, and cut the fillets into portions.
Make the broth. Peel the onion and cut it crosswise, but not all the way through.
Pour 1 liter of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the fish fins, tail and everything else left over to the boiling water. Add the scored onion, 2-3 allspice berries, a few black peppercorns and 1-2 bay leaves. It’s better to put all the spices in a sachet bag so you don’t have to fish out every peppercorn later; the bag should be synthetic, as cheesecloth leaves a taste of fabric. Salt lightly and cook the broth for 10-12 mins.
Cook the fillets. Strain the broth into another pot, discarding the onion, the fish scraps and the spice sachet. Add the portions of sea bass fillet to the broth, bring to a boil and cook over the lowest heat until done, when the flesh turns white and flakes easily.
Dressing
While the fish is cooking, prepare the dressing.
Prepare the tomato: scald it with boiling water, remove the skin, take out the seeds and finely chop the flesh.
Fry the tomato with garlic. Heat 3-4 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the tomato flesh in it. Add finely crushed garlic and salt lightly. Simmer the mixture over low heat under a lid for 5 mins.
Add half a cup of milk (100 ml) or cream and keep simmering for another 5 mins.
Add 1 heaped tsp of flour (5 g), stir thoroughly so there are no lumps, and immediately add 2 tsp of tomato paste (11 g). Simmer over low heat for another 5 mins.
Soup
Combine the finished fish soup with the dressing and stir.
Salt and pepper to taste. Add finely chopped dill and cook at a gentle simmer for 1-2 mins.
Serving
Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkling with dill if you like.
The kakavia fish soup is ready, serve it hot.
Calories and macros
420 kcal
Serving ≈ 700 g
- Protein18 g17% of kcal
- Fat35 g76% of kcal
- Carbs8 g7% of kcal
100 g61 kcalProtein 2.6 gFat 5.1 gCarbs 1.1 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.