Psarosoupa

One large fish poached whole and lifted out intact, with the broth it leaves behind finished with egg and lemon.

Fish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 1 whole white fish, about 1.5 kg, scaled and gutted
• 4 potatoes, in thick rounds
• 3 carrots, in thick rounds
• 2 onions, halved
• 3 celery sticks with leaves
• 2 litres water
• 100 ml olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 lemons, juiced
• salt and pepper
• parsley, to finish

Method

1. THE FISH IS LIFTED OUT WHOLE AND SERVED SEPARATELY, which is the opposite of the other fish soup on this site. Kakavia cooks small fish to pieces on purpose and sieves them away; here one good fish is poached gently, taken out intact on a plate, and the broth it leaves is finished and served first or alongside. A fish simmered until it falls apart has been cooked for the wrong dish.
2. SO IT GOES IN LAST AND BARELY SIMMERS. The vegetables are cooked first and nearly done before the fish goes anywhere near the pan. Twelve to fifteen minutes at a bare shiver for a fish this size, and the surface must not break.
3. AND THE BROTH IS FINISHED WITH AVGOLEMONO, made exactly as on its own page: pan off the heat and standing, hot broth ladled INTO the beaten egg a little at a time, and never returned to a simmer.
4. Fish rinsed and the gills removed -- they are bitter and they are about to sit in the broth.
5. Onions, carrots, celery and potatoes into the water with the oil and a good deal of salt. Brought to a simmer and cooked 20 minutes until the potato is nearly tender.
6. The vegetables lifted out with a slotted spoon onto a warm dish and covered.
7. Heat lowered until the surface is barely moving. The fish lowered in, covered by the broth; topped up with hot water if it is not.
8. 12 to 15 minutes. Done when the flesh at the thickest part parts from the bone at a touch.
9. LIFTED OUT WHOLE with two slotted spoons or a fish slice onto the dish with the vegetables. This is the moment it breaks if it is going to, so take the time.
10. The broth strained, tasted and seasoned hard -- it is thin at this point and needs it.
11. HEAT OFF, pan left 3 minutes to stop moving.
12. Eggs beaten with the lemon juice, the hot broth tempered into them a ladleful at a time, and the lot returned to the pan off the heat and stirred until it thickens.
13. Parsley over. The broth served in bowls, the fish and vegetables on the dish with oil and lemon poured over them.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Greece · All recipes