Le Croc at Home | Soup de Poisson Recipe

Soup de Poisson originally comes from the Southeast of France and is made with slight differences all along the Spanish Coast. Le Crocodile’s CDC, Borja Del Cerro Crespo, introduces monkfish, shrimp and clams to this excellent French bistro staple. Thickened with rice instead of bread, this recipe lends itself well to any gluten-free (or not) meal.

Soup de Poisson tips from Le Crocodile’s CDC, Chef Borja Del Cerro Crespo:

1. If you purchase head-on shrimp, you can peel them and add the heads and peels to the fish stock.
2. Really make sure that you allow fond to develop at each initial step. That fond is the absolute key to flavor in this dish.
3. If you don’t have cognac or brandy on hand, though unconventional, Chef Borja says you could use whiskey.
4. To make saffron aioli, grind a pinch of saffron in a mortar and pestle. In a small bowl, add 3 cubes of ice and put the ground saffron on top of the ice. Let stand at room temperature until the ice melts and the saffron blooms in the ice. Blitz or whisk into your aioli – Le Crocodile makes their aioli with whole eggs, oil, garlic, champagne vinegar, and Dijon mustard.

Ingredients:

Fish Stock:

2 leeks, cleaned and cut in half cross-wise

2 onions, cut in half length-wise and peeled

2 bay leaves

3-4 head-on red snapper carcasses, gills removed

8 parsley stems

7 quarts of water

Mirepoix:

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 carrots, cut into rounds

2 leeks, cut into rounds

2 onion, diced

The Rest:

1 ½ tablespoons saffron

2 ½ cups / 300g grated Beefsteak tomato (on a box grater)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ½ cups / 360g white wine

½ cup / 110g cognac

½ cup / 100g rice, bomba rice (the more glutinous the better)

1 ½ lbs. / 680g monkfish, cleaned and cubed (set aside any ugly pieces for later use)

1 lbs. / 454g shrimp, peeled and deveined

9 manilla clams

Salt, to taste

To Serve:

1 baguette, sliced on a bias and grilled.

Saffron aioli

2 tablespoons celery leaves

Controne pepper (or Espelette), to taste

Method:

Fish Stock (makes about 6 quarts):

1. Put the head-on snapper carcasses, leeks, onions, parsley stems, and bay leaves in a stock pot. Fill the stock pot with 7 quarts of cold water.

2. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow the stock to burble away, skimming any residue or foam that comes to the surface of the stock.

3. Cook for an hour, but no more than an hour. You’re looking for slight fishiness, without the stock overpowering the rest of the soup.

Clams (for garnish):

1. In a small pot, place clams, a small pinch of salt, and ½ cup of fish stock. Cover, and bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer, allowing the clamshells to open, about 7-10 minutes.
2. Remove the clams from the heat, taking them out of their shells and placing them in a small bowl.
3. Pour the cooking liquid over the shelled clams, and set aside until you’re ready to plate.

Mirepoix and Soup:

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add leeks, onion, and carrot and saute. Allow the mirepoix to develop some color and fond, stirring often, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Add a big pinch of saffron, continuing to stir and continuing to allow fond to form at the bottom of the pot. Cook down for another 20 minutes. Allow the mirepoix plenty of time to develop color and fond – the more fond you let build, the deeper, richer, and better your soup will taste.

3. Add the grated tomato and cook until some of the water content has cooked off.

4. Add the tomato paste and an additional tablespoon of olive oil, to ensure caramelization. Keep stirring and keep cooking for another 10-15 minutes.

5. Add 2 pinches of salt, continuing to cook and stir, creating more fond! Once the mix has turned a darker shade of red, add the cognac. Allow the cognac to cook off fully, then add the white wine.

6. Reduce the wine all the way, and then add the fish stock and the rice, about 18 minutes. Add any monkfish cubing scraps and cook for another 5 minutes.

7. Blend this mirepoix-rice-stock mixture until very, very smooth. Put the blended soup in a large pot and check the consistency, you’re aiming for silky and pourable. Add more fish stock as needed, and bring to a boil, skimming away any residue that floats to the top.

8. Add shrimp and monkfish to the soup and poach for about 2-3 minutes or until just cooked through. Check the soup for seasoning and add salt as needed.

To serve à Le Crocodile, ladle the soup into your bowl of choice. Top the slice of grilled baguette with saffron aioli, and three or four clams. Place a few celery leaves on top and sprinkle with a small pinch of Controne pepper. Balance the bread on top of your bowl of Soup de Poisson and enjoy.

Chef Aidan O’Neal indulges us in a few questions:

Where and when did you first have Soup de Poisson?

When I learned how to make it. At M. Wells in like… 2010? That was probably the first time I made it. We’d make it out of hake, or cod? No, we were serving hake… so with the leftover hake bones, we’d make the stock. We’d use rice as the thickener, saffron, mirepoix. This one here is much better, more evolved–Borja folds in nice chunks of monkfish, shrimp, and clams.

Why a Soup de Poisson on the menu?

I mean, I'd always order it at L’Express in Montreal because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. I remember it was like 14 bucks and that was all I could spend. Maybe it’s not super standard in Americanized French restaurants, but it’s pretty standard in a bistro – like tartare.

To a person who sticks their nose up at a Soup de Poisson, what do you say?

If they’re a non-believer and they’re unconverted, it’s fine… go have some tomato soup … Why would someone stick their nose up at a Soup de Poisson? Are they too posh? Or they don’t like fish? I don’t want anyone to order something they’re sticking their nose up at, I want them to have a good time.

I think it would be an aversion to fish.

This might not be for you then.

Boisson with your (Soup de) Poisson?

I’d have a Kronenbourg. A Kronenbourg or a Guinness.