Fish Stock

You’ll never bin your fish frames now you have this simple stock recipe (it’s my mum’s fail-safe one). I usually freeze my fresh frames to make stock with later. Making stock shouldn’t take long periods. Twenty minutes simmer is enough to get maximum flavour from the frames. Add the finished stock to your risottos, paella and soups and you’ll notice the difference from store-bought.

Use: any fish frames you like.

INGREDIENTS
  • Fish frames, one large or a few small (fresh or frozen)  
  • ¼ cup White Wine (if you have it)
  • ½ Onion, chunky dice
  • 1 Carrot, peeled and diced
  • 2 Sticks of Celery, chunky dice
  • A few Fennel Fronds OR ½ tsp Fennel Seeds
  • 3 Sprigs Thyme
  • 6 Sprigs Parsley
  • 1 Small Garlic Clove, cut in half
  • 1 – 2 tsp Flaky Sea Salt
  • 4 Peppercorns
  • 1 Lemon, cut in half
  • 2 Bay Leaves
METHOD
  • Place all of your ingredients into a large pot.  
  • Cover the the frames and other ingredients with cold water.
  • Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil, without a lid on.
  • Once it has come to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • While the stock is simmering, you can if you want to, use a ladle to take the scum/protein off the top.
  • Once it has simmered for 20 minutes, remove from the heat, leave to cool a little, and strain the liquid through a fine sieve and into a vessel. Hang onto the lemon.
  • Once the stock is cooled some more, squeeze the juice from the lemon into the liquid and stir through. The stock is done. You can keep it in the fridge for a few days, or pop it in the freezer to use at a later date.

Recipe by Jana from The Macpherson Diaries