Salmon head soup with lemongrass and ginger
Lemongrass, ginger, scallions, garlic and tomatoes are sauteed to make the base for the broth. Lime juice is stirred in towards the end of cooking time.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 two-inch knob ginger peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions white and light green portions only
- 3 to 4 stalks lemongrass white portion only peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 tomatoes diced
- fish sauce
- ground black pepper
- 1 kilogram salmon head (2.2 pounds) chopped through the bone into eight pieces (ask the fish monger to do this for you)
- 2 eggplants diced
- 2 to 4 tablespoons lime juice lemon or calamansi juice may be substituted
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced scallions dark green portion only
- cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the cooking oil in a pot.
- Saute the ginger, garlic, scallions (white and light green portions only), lemongrass and tomatoes with a tablespoon of fish sauce and a few pinches of pepper.
- Pour in six cups of water and bring to the boil.
- Drop in the salmon head pieces and the eggplants. Allow the liquid to boil again.
- Turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer the salmon head and vegetables for about ten minutes.
- Taste the broth and add more fish sauce if needed.
- Off the heat, stir in the lime juice.
- Sprinkle in the dark green portion of the scallions.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
