Most Trinis and Caribbean folks consider soup to be a main dish, no dish comes after or before; being served at home is a lot different from being served at a restaurant. But then, try eating something immediately after eating a sancoche and you know you did yourself a grave injustice. Then there are those who believe that a good soup is the perfect elixir for all illnesses. From the time they feel ill they feast on bowls of soups daily varying the type of soup so they don't get fed up. I have been through that mood whenever I get a headache, the common cold, etc.
But there is one soup you don't need to feel ill to enjoy. Fish broth is the lightest and tastiest of all the local soups, to me. It is not thick because it does not have much ingredients that causes other soups to thicken, such as split peas, provision, or macaroni. The flavor of the fish broth depends mostly on how well the fish is seasoned and marinated. Normally any fish could be used but I prefer to use fish that is not bony or has a lot of scales to clean. For this purpose I use the more meaty types of fish available locally, like King fish, Carite, and Cavali.
FISH BROTH
Ingredients:
Fish, cleaned and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
Thyme, minced
¼ cup water
2 tsp. limes juice
½ onion
1 garlic
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
½ cup chive, finely chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 cup pumpkin, diced
3 small potatoes, peeled and diced
6 green fig (bananas), peeled and chopped
3 ochroes, chopped (optional)
1 pimento pepper, chopped
Water
Salt and pepper
Direction:
Blend the garlic, onion, thyme, lime and water. Season the fish (in this case I use Carite) with this mixture. Allow to marinate for an hour.
In a large pot saute the onion, garlic, pimento pepper until golden brown. Add water and the rest of the vegetables and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.
When vegetables are tender, add fish and allow to simmer.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Well that's it for another delicious post; more to come. And feel free to leave comments; you comment I follow.
Fish Broth
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized fish slices cleaned
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion minced
- 4 sprigs spanish thyme minced
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp. lime juice
- ½ onion
- 1 garlic
- 1 stalk of celery finely chopped
- ½ cup chive finely chopped
- 1 large carrot diced
- 1 cup pumpkin diced
- 3 small potatoes peeled and diced
- 6 green fig bananas, peeled and chopped
- 3 ochroes chopped (optional)
- 1 pimento pepper chopped
- Water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Blend the garlic, onion, thyme, lime and water. Season the fish slices with this mixture. Allow to marinate for an hour.
- In a large pot sauté the onion, garlic, pimento pepper until golden brown. Add water and the rest of the vegetables and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.
- When vegetables are tender, add fish and allow to simmer until cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.
thanks for the recipe have a trini friend that is homesick for fish broth, this will be a nice surprise,
voodooj
No problem Robert 🙂
I just prepared this for my fiance who happens to be sick. He loved it – plus he doesn’t eat meat so this will become a regular in our household.
Well Ayana I wish your fiance a speedy recovery and hopes he will be able to try some of the other trini dishes from the site. Thanks for stopping by!
Glad to hear that they liked it Caroline. Thank you for your comment.
Tried this last night for my boyfried and carried some over for my dad and brother. They all loved it i added dumplings….it was gr8… wonderful recipe. thank you
Well everyone has their own way, but this way is the best. I take out the fish and place it into a seperate container,so it won’t mash up. So when surving other servings, just bowl out the broth and add the fish after. Remember people your Seasoning is the most important. I use Chief Brand Fish Seasoning, to Salt the fish. It gives it a great flavor.
Fahyad Singh
It was awesome!!!!!!! My dad who thought I can’t cook if my life depended on it was blown away!
awesome!
I have been searching to find out if I was making it right because I don’t put ochro or pumpkin in my fish broth. I normally put potatoes, macaroni and green fig. I must try your way and see.
Taste great, will be making it again.
Thanks for this recipe, my hubby requested fish broth on a Saturday and in all my years of cooking, I never made it before. It came out wonderfully delish, him and his friends finished the pot, thank God I got a small bowl before the cleared it down. Thanks again.
You’re welcome Crystal.