Ukha
According to Wikipedia, ukha is not always made from fish stock. Initially, in 15 century and earlier, it was made using meat- and also the chicken broth. Nowadays it is made from a fish stock and for classical ukha, different types of fish are used. On the Buffet day of Onion Rout, we offered a fish soup, which I also calle ukha, although it was made only from one type of fish. Since there was a storm in Lake Peipus, the fishermen did not succeed to catch the fish and we had to use the fish that was available in Tartu – a trout. This soup was the first meal ended-up – people had come to Varnja, probably with the idea to find especially Ukha.
Preparation time: Preparation 10 min, preparation of broth 45 -60 min, soup making 30 min.
Level: not too complicated
Serves: eight
Ingredients:
1 average trout or pike-perch
2 big onions
2 bigger potatoes
1 medium carrot
2 piece of celery
Salt and black pepper for seasoning
4 bay leaves
2 boiled eggs
Fresh parsley and green onion for decorating
Preparation:
1. Boil the broth. Cut fish in half and put into the 3L of cold water, add a piece of roughly cut celery, 1 unpeeld onion, bay leaves and 10 black pepper corns, salt to taste.
2. Let the water to boil and lower the temperature to minimum. If broth is boling to strongly, the broth becomes opaque. Remove the foam that came out. Boil for a 45 min to 1 hour.
3. Carefully remove the fish from the broth and cool down. Pour the broth through a dense sieve.
4. Peel the potatoes, carrots, onions, chop the potatoes into a cubes, cut the carrots into halves and cut into slices, cut the onion into a sectors, cut the celery into firm slices. Put vegetables into the broth to boil, season with salt and black pepper.
5. Boil 2 eggs hard.
6. Clean the fish from the bones and the put aside. I would not put the fish in a soup, because the fish meat is very delicate and it is very easy to crush it into small pieces.
7. If the vegetables are soft, then start to serv. Put the bowl of fish to the bottom of the bowl, raise the pudding onto vegetables, cut into boiled egg sectors and place it on top, sprinkle with chopped green onions and parsley.
Ready!