Cornish red mullet soup

Name: Cornish red mullet soup
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: sea salt and pepper; 1.5 litres (2½ pints) fish stock; sea salt and pepper; 150 g canned chopped tomatoes; 150 ml (¼ pint) red wine; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped; 1 small potato, about 125 g (4 oz), peeled and roughly chopped; 5 black peppercorns; good pinch of saffron threads; 1 bay leaf; 2 juniper berries; 3 tbsp tomato purée; few thyme sprigs; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) whole red mullet, cleaned and roughly chopped; 2 tbsp olive oil; ½ leek, trimmed, roughly chopped and rinsed; 1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped; ½ red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped; ½ small fennel bulb, roughly chopped

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

British Food

By Mark Hix

Published 2005

About

British red mullet is seasonal and can be hard to find, but you could use sea bream, sea bass or gurnard, or even a mixture of fish. The soup freezes well, so consider making a double batch when you come across fresh red mullet.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
500 g (1 lb 2

Europe
United Kingdom
Fish course
Pescatarian
Gluten-free

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan and gently fry the chopped red mullet, vegetables, garlic, spices and herbs for about 10 minutes. Add the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, red wine and fish stock. Bring to the boil, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 50 minutes.
Blend about one third of the soup (bones and all) in a blender or using a hand-