Fish Head Soup - Ukha

Ukha (Уха) is Russian fish head soup, made in a rustic, wood fire tradition, but this recipe is easily made in the kitchen too! A rustic and nourishing soup, steeped in tradition and full of flavor (and a tiny bit of vodka).

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Fish Bone Broth - made with real fish bones and fish head, this ensures a fully nutritious fish broth full of minerals and vitamins, you'll taste the difference
• Tradition and Fun - Russian culinary tradition that's been passed down the generations, each spoonful is a bite of history
• Fun and Adventure - it's fun and adventurous to cook soup over a fire - even if you are making it in the kitchen, plus you'll get to level up your cooking skills by cooking with a fish head

Ingredients

• Fish Head - large Salmon/Trout frame bones, including head and tail
• Soup Base - onion, carrot (optional) whole peppercorns, water
• Potatoes - for carbs and comfort
• Fish Fillets - boneless and skinless salmon and perch pieces
• Aromatics - bay leaves, fresh dill, green onion, salt and pepper
• Vodka - you're not really surprised, are you?

How to Make Fish Head Soup

Fish Head Broth

1. Make Fish Broth - in a large pot, put the Salmon frame and head, onion, 1 teaspoon of salt and whole peppercorns and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Skim off any impurities.
2. Strain - place cheesecloth inside a colander (over a large bowl) and strain the soup. The cheesecloth ensures the broth is clear and free of impurities. Discard the Salmon bones.

Fish Head Soup

1. Boil Potatoes - return fish stock to the pot and add the chopped potatoes and bay leafs. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.
2. Add Fish - cut the boneless Salmon and Perch pieces into chunky 2" pieces and add to the soup. If the pieces are cut too small and thin, they will fall apart. Cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Season - add chopped dill, optional vodka, season with salt and pepper according to taste. This recipe loves black pepper.
4. Garnish - sprinkle with chopped green onion or parsley.

Ideas for Fish Head Soup

• Creamy Fish Soup - add heavy cream into the soup for a rich and creamy flavor
• Spicy Soup - add a hot chili pepper or chili flakes for a spicy kick
• Add Vegetables - boost flavor by adding leeks, tomatoes, celery or parsnips
• Add Chicken - you read that right! When cooking the fish broth, add a chicken drumstick to boost your broth flavor
• Add Firewood - I'm not making this up - according to tradition: if cooking over fire, just before serving, dip a piece of charcoal wood into the soup for a smokey flavor

Recipe Tips and FAQs

• Add Different Fish - when using Salmon or Trout (fatty fish), add a white flesh fish to balance the fish flavors like Perch or Cod
• Adjust Water - as fish bone broth starts to boil down, add extra water if needed
• Extra Fish - be generous and add extra fish fillets for a meaty soup
• Clearer Broth - use only fish heads and tails, that results in clearer broth as the meaty parts of the fish frame will slightly cloud the broth.
• Easy Fish Soup - make a fish soup ready in 20 minutes. Sauté onions and celery, add water, diced potatoes, bay leaf and seasonings. Cook for 10 minutes, add fish pieces and cook until fish is ready.

Best Fish for Fish Head Soup

Traditionally made with river and lake fish like trout, salmon, perch, walleye. However, when making fish broth you can use any fish, including ocean fish. As the fish heads cook, the fish flavors create a tasty broth rich in nutrients.

How to Clarify Fish Broth

The best Fish Head Soup is served as a clear broth, without impurities. Straining through cheesecloth is the easy method for a clear broth. Alternatively, whisk 2 egg whites until they are foamy, mix with some cold water, and pour into your boiling broth. Turn off heat and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth. The impurities bind to the egg whites, resulting in a clear broth.

Storage

Place in an airtight container and keep refrigerated. Best enjoyed within 3 days.

Can I Freeze Fish Head Soup?

Yes. Allow soup to fully cool and pour into freezer safe container. Freezes for 3 months for best flavor. Defrost in refrigerator and re-heat on stove in pot.

Fish Soup Serving Suggestions

Traditionally served with Kulebayaka (salmon pie). Alternatively serve with Cabbage Piroshki, a Cabbage Pie, or with a crusty loaf of bread.

Fish Recipes You Have to Try!

• Salmon Kulebyaka - traditionally served with Russian Fish Soup
• Lohikeitto - Creamy Finnish Salmon Soup
• Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl
• Salmon Gravlax with Beets
• How to Eat Caviar
• Baked Sturgeon
• Imitation Crab Salad
• Boiled Crawfish - Russian Style

It might be a bit cliche, think of a Russian fisherman, fishing with his buddies, cooking Ukha over a fire, and flavoring themselves and the soup with a bit of Vodka. Not that different from an Italian Nonna adding in red wine into the Lasagna Meat Sauce. So it's up to you, to Vodka or not to Vodka? Bon Appetit! Приятного аппетита!

©PetersFoodAdventures.com *originally posted September 2016, updated February 2024

Excerpt from the Classic Soviet Cookbook - The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food (1952) - "Stalin's Cookbook"

The most delicious fish soup is made from live fish (sterlet, perch). Fish soup can also be cooked from walleye or various small fish, with the exception of crucian carp and tench. To give the ear the necessary stickiness, small fish – ruffs and perches – should be cooked without peeling off their scales, gutted, thoroughly washed. In addition to the gills, the gills must also be removed from the perches, otherwise the broth will get a bitter taste.

Put the prepared fish in a saucepan, pour cold water, add the peeled roots, onion, salt and cook at a slow boil for 40 minutes to an hour. After that, strain the broth.

In order to get a transparent soup, it is necessary to draw off (lighten) with powdered or granular caviar. To do this, grind 50 g of caviar in a mortar, gradually adding a spoonful of cold water, until a dough-like mass is obtained. Dilute the crushed caviar with a glass of cold water, add a glass of hot fish soup and, stirring, pour in two batches into a saucepan with hot fish soup.

After the first part is poured in, the soup should boil, and only then can the rest be poured in. When the soup boils again, remove the lid from the pan and cook at a low boil for 15-20 minutes.

When the soup is ready, it must be removed from the heat and allowed to stand for 10-15 minutes so that the sediment settles to the bottom of the pan. After that, strain gently. The finished fish soup is served with kulebyaka. You can put the juice of boiled fish in a bowl with fish soup.
For 1 kg of fish – 1 piece of onion, leek, parsley and celery, 2 ½–3 litres of water.