I catch a lot of striped bass, and while I love to eat the fillets, I am always more excited about the heads and bones because they make a surpassing fish stock. And to me, fish stock is one of those zephyrs of the food world, a mystical wonderment that lasts only as long as it takes to make and eat it.
Yes, you can store fish stock, and it’s OK, but never as amazing as when it has been freshly made.
So that means I normally find myself making fish risotto or chowder right off the bat when I have a good haul of stripers, Pacific rockfish or lingcod. The fillets get eaten later. Yes, I am aware this is opposite to what most people do. Pretty typical for me.
Fish stock isn’t like normal stock. It’s a fairly quick affair. My venison stock takes all day, or even overnight. All my fish stock asks of you is 45 minutes or so. Strain and enjoy. A long-simmered fish stock gets cloudy and bitter and fishy. I don’t recommend it.
What fish? Really almost anything. I’ve made fish stock with bass, walleye, perch, black seabass, white seabass, lingcod, Pacific rock cod, stripers, tilefish, porgies, redfish, sea trout, spotted bass, bluegills… you get the point.
Be sure to rinse the heads and bones well to remove slime, and be absolutely certain to snip our the gills. Gills in your stock will ruin it, as the blood in them will cloud your stock and give it an “off” flavor very quickly.
Homemade Fish Stock
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped (optional)
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- Salt
- 2 cups white wine or vermouth
- 2 to 5 pounds of fish bones and heads
- A handful of dried mushrooms (optional)
- 2 to 4 bay leaves
- 1 star anise pod (optional)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons dried or fresh thyme
- 3 or 4 pieces of dried kombu kelp (optional)
- Chopped fronds from the fennel bulb
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables and cook, stirring often, until they are all soft, but not browned. This should take about 10 minutes or so.
- Add the white wine and all the remaining ingredients, plus enough water to cover everything by about an inch or two. Bring to a simmer, then drop the heat to a bare shimmy, about 175°F if you want to be precise. It should not boil under any circumstances, and keep an eye on things to ensure that it doesn't. Simmer like this for 45 minutes to 1 hour, no more.
- Turn the heat as low as it will go. Set a fine mesh strainer over a big bowl, then put a piece of paper towel or cheesecloth in the strainer. Ladle the stock through this set-up into the bowl. When you get to the bottom, skip the dregs down there, as they will be filled with sediment. The stock will never be as good as it is right now, but it can be refrigerated for up to a week and frozen for up to 6 months.
This fish stock recipe is so good it brought a tear to the eye. One of the best foods of all time, period.
Unbelievably delicious! I used this recipe as a guide more than an exact instruction manual.
This first difference is that I used yellowfin tuna collars and the bony part of the toro / ventral fins. Highly recommend.
I also made a traditional dashi from the kombu and bonito flakes beforehand, so I could add it instead of water when the liquid went in.
Lastly, in addition to deglazing with the white wine, I also dropped a few Tbsps of fish sauce in.
Overall 11/10. Possibly the best stock I’ve ever made.
I’m really glad you posted this comment. I am getting ready to make my first fish stock and was wondering how the use of tuna would turn out. Not sure about how to make dashi though.
Tammy: You can’t really make dashi from tuna. The problem is that the bonito used in dashi is salted, fermented and dried hard as a rock, then shaved thin to make the dashi. A very difficult process to replicate at home.
Used this recipe as a guide for my first fish stock. Wild caught striped bass from New Brunswick Canada that I bought at a local fish shop in Montreal.
It has turned out great thanks to your tips, specifically simmer simmer simmer. Look forward to using fennel next time as I’m sure it adds an aromatic flavour that blends well with fish.
Any ideas for a substitute for the 2 cups of white wine/vermouth. I have everything else, but need a non-alcoholic option to make the fish stock. I want to use it to make your Southern Fish Stew using freshwater drum I plan to catch and keep next week. I catch a lot of them here in Fargo, ND but always let them go.
Jeff: Just skip the white wine, it’ll be fine.
Can you use the whole fish for stock? Namely, a whole tilapia?
Mary: Yes, but you need to remove any guts and the gills. Those things will wreck your stock if they are included. You can easily remove the gills with kitchen shears.