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Ukha Fish Soup

Name: Ukha Fish Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ukrainian
Ingredients: 800 g Firm white fish fillets; 450 g Potatoes; 150 g Onion; 120 g Carrot; 1.6 l Water; 25 g Unsalted butter; 20 ml Lemon juice; 2 leaves Bay leaves; 6 g Whole black peppercorns; 12 g Fine sea salt; 25 g Fresh dill; 30 g Spring onions; 15 g Flat-leaf parsley

A clear river-fish broth with potato and onion, the fish poached in it at the very end and the bowl finished with butter, lemon and a fistful of dill.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 30 min
Difficulty: Easy

About this dish

Ukha is defined by what it is not: no flour, no cream, no frying, nothing that would cloud it. Riverside cooks judged it by whether you could see the bottom of the pot, and the old rule was that the broth is built first from heads and trimmings, and the good pieces of fish only meet it in the last ten minutes. Everything about the method is in service of clarity, which is why the one thing that ruins it is a hard boil.

Gluten-free
Not vegetarian because of Firm white fish fillets
Contains dairy because of Unsalted butter

Ingredients

4servings

800gFirm white fish fillets
450gPotatoes
150gOnion
120gCarrot
1.6lWater
25gUnsalted butter
20mlLemon juice
2leavesBay leaves
6gWhole black peppercorns
12gFine sea salt
25gFresh dill
30gSpring onions
15gFlat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Bring the water to a bare simmer with the halved onion, sliced carrot, bay and peppercorns, and cook 12 minutes.
12 min
Tip: Never let it boil, here or later. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and fine particles into the liquid and turns a clear ukha permanently cloudy — there is no way back once it happens.
Add the potato in large cubes and simmer for 10 minutes.
10 min
Tip: Cut them large and do not stir much. Broken potato edges release starch, and starch is the second way this soup loses its clarity.
Slide in the fish in thick pieces, salt the pot, and poach for 8 minutes without stirring.
8 min
Tip: Eight minutes is generous; the fish is done when it turns from glassy to opaque. Poked and turned it falls apart, and the pieces should reach the bowl whole.
Take the pot off the heat, add the butter and lemon juice, and let it stand 2 minutes.
2 min
Tip: Off the heat for both. Butter stirred into boiling broth breaks and leaves a greasy film, and lemon boiled for even a minute loses the freshness it was added for.
Scatter with dill, green onion and parsley, and serve.
3 min
Tip: Do not be shy with the dill. In a soup this deliberately plain it is not a garnish but one of about four flavours in the bowl.