Khersonska Yushka (херсонська юшка, southern fish soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A 6 to 8 litre stockpot or outdoor kazan
• •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
• •A fine sieve or colander lined with muslin
• •A mortar and pestle for the salamur

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the meat

   Put the pork, cold water, halved onion, bay leaf, and peppercorns into a big pot or kazan. Bring it up slowly and skim the grey foam as it rises. Keep the broth at a lazy bubble, not a hard boil, until the meat smells sweet and the bones have given the water some weight.

   Salt lightly here. Fish and salamur come later, and both sharpen the pot.
2. 2

   Make fish stock

   Add the fish bones, heads, or small whole fish with the dill stems. Let them murmur in the broth until the smell turns clean and river-sweet, then strain carefully. Return the clear broth and pork pieces to the pot. Pick any good meat from the bones if you have patience, but don't chase every flake.

3. 3

   Cook the vegetables

   Add the potatoes and sweet pepper to the strained broth. Cook until the potatoes yield when pressed against the side of the pot but still hold their corners. The sound should be gentle, a small knocking of vegetables and broth, not a rolling fight.

4. 4

   Build the zasmazhka

   Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan and let the diced onion soften until translucent. Add the grated carrot and cook slowly until the oil turns orange and the carrot smells sweet, then stir in the grated tomatoes or fermented tomato mors. This is zasmazhka, the slow-sweated flavour base, and it goes in near the end so its sweetness sits brightly on the broth instead of flattening into the stock.

   If you have fermented tomato mors, use it. In August we'd grate fresh tomatoes; in January we open a jar instead.
5. 5

   Add the fish

   Lower the river fish and sea fish pieces into the pot in a single layer if you can. Do not stir hard now. Nudge the pot by its handles and spoon broth over the top until the fish turns opaque and just begins to flake. The broth should taste of both water and coast.

6. 6

   Make the salamur

   Crush the garlic with a good pinch of salt until it becomes a paste. Stir in the hot pepper if using, then loosen it with two tablespoons of hot fish broth, one tablespoon of sunflower oil, and lemon juice or fermented tomato brine if the pot wants brightness. Salamur should bite, not whisper.

7. 7

   Finish the pot

   Stir the zasmazhka into the yushka, taste for salt and black pepper, then pull the pot off the heat. Add most of the dill and spoon in a little salamur, keeping the rest for the table. Let the soup stand until the fish settles and the oil beads shine on the surface. Serve big bowls, with bread, extra dill, and the remaining salamur for people who like their garlic louder.

Chef Tips

• •Remove the gills from fish heads or the broth can taste bitter. This is the small fussy job that matters.
• •Use at least two kinds of fish if you can: one river, one sea. If you only have firm white fillets, make the broth deeper with fish bones from the fishmonger and don't scold yourself.
• •The fish step doesn't forgive rough stirring. Once the pieces go in, nudge the pot and spoon broth over them so they stay whole.
• •Cook it over fire if you have a safe place. At home, a heavy stockpot gives you the same generosity, only without your coat smelling of smoke.
• •Leftover yushka keeps one day in the fridge, but fish soup is best on the day it is made. Reheat gently, never boil it hard.

Advance Preparation

• •Ask the fishmonger for heads and bones when you buy the fish; remove the gills before cooking.
• •The pork broth can be made a day ahead and chilled. Add the fish and salamur on the day you serve.
• •Chop the dill and crush the garlic close to serving so the green stays bright and the salamur stays sharp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 590g)