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Salmon head fish soup with corn grits

Salmon Head Soup with Cornmeal

A terrific, wholesome, and very tasty soup! If you've got a salmon head in the freezer, turn it into a fragrant soup! It'll fill you up and warm you on cold evenings, and if you're watching what you eat, this fish soup is a perfect choice for a meal.

Pearl

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Salmon (head)

250

Potatoes

Onion

Carrot

Bay leaf

Cornmeal

Salt

Fresh herbs

Ground black pepper

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 35 % 8 g

Fats 9 % 2 g

Carbohydrates 57 % 13 g

124 kcal

GI: 69 / 0 / 31

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

Step 1:

How do you make soup from a salmon head? Take the head out of the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature — or cover it with cool water to speed things up. Remove the gills and any leftover scales. Fins, tails, and bellies all work for this soup. Rinse the head, put it in a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, lower the heat, and cook for 30 minutes.
Step 2:

Meanwhile, prep the rest of the ingredients. For about 1.2–1.5 liters of water I used two medium potatoes, one carrot, half an onion, and 2 tablespoons of cornmeal.
Step 3:

Peel the potatoes, onion, and carrot and rinse them under running water.
Step 4:

Cut the potatoes into small cubes, the carrot into rounds, and chop the onion fairly small.
Step 5:

Once the head is cooked, lift it out of the broth. Turn the heat to high. Add the potatoes, carrot, and onion to the pot, followed by the cornmeal, bay leaf, and salt to taste. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat to just below medium and cook until the potatoes are tender — about 15–20 minutes, depending on the size of your potato pieces and the variety.
Step 6:

While the soup cooks, pick any meat off the head and discard the bones.
Step 7:

Taste the finished soup for salt and add more if needed. Stir in finely chopped herbs and the pieces of fish. I used frozen dill and a blend of Italian herbs.
Step 8:

Pepper the fish soup at serving, if you like.

You can use rice in place of the cornmeal — it pairs well with salmon and works nicely in soups like this. Since the soup is made without a sautéed base, it's a safe bet on diet days. The grain and the rich broth make it genuinely filling and nourishing. Be sure to try it! Enjoy!
You can use more or less water than the recipe calls for, depending on whether you want a thicker or brothier soup.
Keep in mind that how you cut the carrot affects the result: grated carrot breaks down as it cooks and blends in evenly, while strips or cubes hold their shape.
I consider this a "clean eating" recipe — clean eating just means a system of balanced, wholesome food. Fish and vegetables in a soup with no fried base make a great first course: low in calories, yet filling and warming.
It's worth remembering that no recipe or food is universally good or bad for everyone. Like medicine, nutrition has its indications, contraindications, and individual daily limits, and for most people it's highly personal. There are plenty of "healthy eating" myths out there (like "fat is bad") that distort the idea and spread that way online and in the media. So treat any "clean eating" label as relative, not gospel — even if the author, a "nutrition expert," dietitian, or trainer calls something healthy or unhealthy, it may not be so for you. The site's view on healthy eating may differ from the recipe author's!