Smoked Fish Chowder

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6 June 2017 BY Julie Biuso
SERVES: 
Serves 4 as a soup meal with bread, or 6 as a mug of soup

Warming and filling – smoked fish chowder is just the thing for cold days.

To check which is the best sustainable fish choice to make see end of recipe.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 stick celery, finely chopped
 1 small carrot, peeled and diced 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed ½ tsp smoked paprika 100ml (about 4 fluid ounces) dry white wine 
1 tsp chopped thyme 2 bay leaves Finely grated zest 1 lemon 
400g (14 ounces) can crushed tomatoes 700g (about 1½ pounds) potatoes, peeled and diced 
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
 
900ml (US nearly 2 pints/ UK generous 1½ pints), or a little more, fish or light vegetable stock 500g (just over 1 pound) smoked fish of your choice 
410g (14 ounce) can sweet corn kernels (choose a brand with no added salt or sugar), drained, or the kernels shaved off two ears of fresh corn 
¼ cup cream 2 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

 Chilli flakes for serving (optional)

Method

1 Put olive oil in a large saucepan, set over a medium heat and add the onion, celery and carrot. Cover pan with a lid and cook gently for 7-10 minutes, until softened and just starting to colour. Add garlic and paprika and cook through for 1 minute. Add wine and thyme, reduce by a third, then add bay leaves, lemon zest, tomatoes and potatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a little freshly ground black pepper and stir in fish stock.

2 Bring to a gentle boil then lower the heat, partially cover with a lid and cook gently for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are very tender.

3 Meanwhile, take fish off the bones discarding scales and bones but leaving flesh in large flakes.

4 Add sweet corn kernels to soup and cook gently for 10 minutes more, then add the flaked fish, cream and most of the parsley. Heat through, but do not let it bubble or the fish will fall apart. If the chowder is very thick, add extra fish stock. Check for seasoning. Serve ladled into bowls sprinkled with parsley and with the option of chilli flakes to spice things up.

 Recipe notes

You can check which is the best fish to use in New Zealand to support sustainable fishing on the Best Fish Guide http://bestfishguide.org.nz)