Equipment
Ingredients
Fish Bones
- 1500 g white fish bones and heads, gills and eyes removed, thoroughly rinsed
Aromatic Vegetables
- 15 ml olive oil, cold-pressed
- 150 g yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 150 g leek, white and light green parts only, washed and sliced
- 100 g celery, thinly sliced
- 100 g fennel bulb, thinly sliced
Liquids and Herbs
- 250 ml dry white wine
- 2500 ml water, ice cold
- 10 g fresh parsley stems
- 5 g fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 g whole black peppercorns
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Place the fish bones in a large bowl or sink and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water for 5 minutes. Remove and discard any remaining blood lines, gills, or eyes, as these will make the stock bitter and cloudy.
Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onion, leek, celery, and fennel. Sweat the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and translucent but have not taken on any color, about 10 minutes.
Add the rinsed fish bones to the pot and gently stir with the vegetables. Pour in the dry white wine, turn the heat up slightly, and allow the wine to simmer and reduce by half to burn off the alcohol harshness, about 5 minutes.
Pour the ice-cold water over the bones and vegetables. Add the parsley stems, thyme, bay leaf, and black peppercorns. Gradually bring the liquid to a very gentle simmer at 85 to 90 degrees Celsius or 185 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit over medium heat. Do not let it come to a rolling boil.
As the stock heats, impurities and foam will rise to the surface. Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to continuously remove this scum. Maintain a gentle, lazy simmer and cook for exactly 30 minutes. Cooking longer than 45 minutes will extract bitter calcium from the bones.
Remove the pot from the heat. Carefully ladle or gently pour the stock through a fine-mesh strainer lined with dampened cheesecloth into a clean container. Do not press on the solids, as this will cloud the stock. Discard the solids.
Cool the stock rapidly by placing the container in an ice water bath. Once cooled to room temperature, transfer to the refrigerator or freezer.
Chef's Notes
- Always use bones from lean, white-fleshed fish like cod, snapper, or halibut. Avoid oily fish like salmon or mackerel, which will turn the stock rancid and excessively fishy.
- Never boil fish stock vigorously or cook it for more than 45 minutes; unlike meat stocks, prolonged cooking extracts bitter calcium from fish bones and ruins the delicate flavor.
- Start with ice-cold water. Cold water extracts proteins slowly, allowing them to coagulate and rise to the surface for easy skimming.
- Do not use parsley leaves in your bouquet garni; the chlorophyll breaks down and turns the stock an unappealing green-brown color. Stick strictly to stems.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store in an airtight container. The stock may become gelatinous when cold, which is a sign of high quality.
Freezer: 6 months — Freeze in usable portions, such as ice cube trays or 250ml deli containers, leaving room for expansion.
Reheating: Bring to a rolling boil 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 1 minute before using in recipes.
