I’ve been saying it for a minute now about keeping your fish heads, collars, and frames for soup. All these parts are all loaded with a good amount of meat and a ton of flavor so it really is a waste just to toss them out after you take the fillets off of a fish. So I’ll show you one of my favorite recipes for cooking up what some anglers consider to be waste and scraps, Jiri – Korean Clear Fish Head Soup. Today I am using the head, collar, and frame of a vermillion snapper I caught fishing off of Destin, but this recipe works with pretty much any white-fleshed saltwater fish, though there are exceptions I wouldn’t use like Snook. Also while I haven’t used freshwater species for Jiri I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with any of popular freshwater species in North America.
First thing with making fish head soup there is a little prep when it comes to the head and frame of the fish. Make you remove all the scales off the fish where possible. After descaling the frame and head, trim off all the fins and scrub out any of the blood you can from the fish. Leaving too much blood with make your soup a bit darker in color and require you to skim it even more as you cook it.
Korean Fish Head Soup – Jiri Ingredients
- Fish Head and Frame – Preferably from white meat saltwater fish
- 1 pound Korean Radish – Daikon works as well
- 2 medium Onions
- 1 Jalapeno
- 3 Green Onions
- Watercress – Minari (Water Dropwart) if you can find it
- 3 inch long piece Dried Kombu Seaweed
- 1 tbsp Hon Dashi
- 1.5 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp Mirin
- Salt & Pepper to taste
The first thing you need to do is get your Korean radish and peel it and quarter it. Then slice it into 1/4 inch thick pieces. While doing that put about 4 quarts of water into a pot then put it on high heat. Add your Hon Dashi, Radish chunks, and Dried Kombu into the pot. Bring the water to a boil then immediately reduce the heat down to medium low and let the pot simmer.
While the pot is simmering, start prepping your other vegetables. Cut the onions in half then slice them into 1/2 inch thick slices. The green onions you want them cut into 2-inch long pieces, and the jalapeno into 1/4-inch thick slices.
Now that your vegetables are all prepped, remove the kombu from the pot after it has simmered for 15 minutes. You can keep the kombu and slice it thin as a garnish for the soup or just throw it out.
Next, add the fish head and frame to the pot along with the sliced onions, minced garlic, and mirin. The mirin will add to the flavor of the soup while removing any off fishy taste as well. Raise the temp back up to medium and let it cook for about 15 minutes to start cooking all the flavors out from the fish head and bones.
As you let the pot boil, make sure to take a ladle and start skimming out and foam and scum from the top of the pot as it cooks. The scum is loose proteins and oils from the fish that foams up as it boils, while it is harmless it makes the final product a less clear-looking soup. It also makes for a bit greasier mouth feel as well, so don’t skip skimming the fish head soup.
After you let the soup boil for 10 minutes add in the jalapeno slices into the soup, adjust to your taste and how spicy the jalapeno is. Don’t just throw in the whole thing if it’s a really hot pepper. Let the jalapeno cook in the soup for another 10 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Once you get the fish head soup right where you want it, cut the heat and add in the green onions. Mix them in and you are ready to serve your Jiri – Fish head soup.
For plating and serving the Jiri – Fish Head Soup, take your watercress or minari* give it a rough chop, and place it on top of the soup right. This will add a nice fresh flavor to the soup. Serve it with a nice bowl of white rice and some kimchi. Enjoy both the rich broth of the soup and pick off the meat from the bones as you eat, often if the fish is fresh enough the meat will just come off the bone and almost act like a porridge.
*Side Notes – If you can find Minari at your local Asian/Korean market, that is the traditional choice to use for the garnish with Jiri, but watercress works just as well.
Cook your Catch on AllOutdoor
