Eel soup
Eels are caught in large numbers every year in Lake Võrtsjärv, and the most well-known dishes made from them are probably smoked eel or eel that has been marinated as a preservative. I made eel soup from raw eels. Preparing these fish requires a bit of effort. One of the most important steps is to carefully remove the mucus layer covering the fish by rubbing it with salt. Without this, the soup can turn out very cloudy. Traditionally, pieces of eel are added to the soup raw, but I did it a little differently. I browned the eel pieces in butter to give them more flavor.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Level: Not too difficult
Amount: 4-5L of soup
Ingredients:
About 1.5 kg of fresh eels, cleaned and cut into 3-4 cm long pieces
About 500 g of potatoes, cut into pieces of your choice
3-4 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium leek, sliced
8-10 shallots, sliced into wedges
8 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
3 stalks of celery, sliced
150 g of green peas
A handful of chopped dill and parsley
Herb salt to taste
Black pepper to season
About 80 g of butter to brown the fish and vegetables
Sea salt to season if necessary
Preparation:
- Clean the eels. Rub the eels with plenty of sea salt to remove the slime coating on the fish. Cut the eels into 3-4 cm long pieces. Remove the head and about 6-7 cm of the tail. Boil the heads and tails in a little water for about 20 minutes, and add the resulting broth to the soup
- To prepare the soup, chop the potatoes, slice the carrots, celery, and leek, cut the onion into slices, and chop the garlic.
- Heat about 40 g of butter in a soup pot and brown the carrots, celery, peas, leek, onions, and garlic in the butter. This will take about 10 minutes.
- Add water until the vegetables and potatoes are covered. You can add more water if you wish and check the thickness of the soup.
- Chop the dill and parsley and add to the soup. Season the soup with black pepper, herb salt, and sea salt if necessary
- Lightly brown the remaining 40 g of eel pieces in butter for about 3-4 minutes. Process the fish pieces in batches so that they brown and do not boil.
- When the potatoes are semi-soft, add the browned eel pieces and cook for about 10 minutes. Add a little water to the pan where the eel was cooked, boil off the layer formed during browning, and add it to the soup.
- Leave the soup to rest for 15-30 minutes, and then the flavors will blend. Season the soup with sea salt and black pepper if necessary.
- Garnish the soup with fresh parsley when serving.
Ready!!
