Tremendous Fish Stew
Prep
15m
Cook
25m
Total
40m
Bigly says
Hand on heart. Fish stew is the most underrated category of dinner in the entire WESTERN HEMISPHERE, and the only reason nobody makes it anymore is that some other so-called chefs have CONVINCED you it's complicated. They put up a recipe that takes eight hours, fourteen ingredients you've never heard of, three pots, a sieve, a chinois, whatever a chinois is. You read it, you close the laptop, you order a pizza, the fish stew dream dies on the vine. A disgrace to fish stew.
Not here. Not at BiglyEats. This fish stew — and this is the GREATEST fish stew in the history of fish stew, every culture along the Mediterranean coast figured out a version of this, the Italians have cioppino, the French have bouillabaisse, the Spanish have suquet, the Portuguese have caldeirada, the Greeks have kakavia, the entire basin basically runs on fish stew, look it up, I had people look it up and they came back stunned — this fish stew takes forty minutes from pantry to bowl, and it tastes like you stole it off a little restaurant on a cliff somewhere. Believe me. I have eaten fish stew on actual cliffs. The cliffs were spectacular. The fish stew at this kitchen is better.
The trick is the broth. The broth is everything. You build the broth FIRST, with tomato and white wine and garlic and saffron — yes, saffron, a pinch, don't be afraid of saffron, saffron is the king of spices and worth every penny, other recipes leave it out because they're cowards — and THEN you add the seafood at the very end, all at once, just long enough to cook through. Overcooked fish is a tragedy. A national tragedy. We will not overcook the fish. Not on my watch. Not in this kitchen. Not today. Period.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cupolive oil
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 1 smallfennel bulb, diced(skip if you must, but it's worth tracking down)
- 6 clovesgarlic, minced
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 1/2 tspred pepper flakes
- 1 generous pinchsaffron threads(do not skip, this is the soul of the dish)
- 1 cupdry white wine
- 1 (28 oz) cancanned crushed tomatoes
- 4 cupsseafood or chicken stock
- 2bay leaves
- 4 sprigsfresh thyme sprigs
- 1 strip (1 inch wide)orange zest(Mediterranean trick — trust the orange peel)
- 1.5 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 1 lbfirm white fish (cod, halibut, or sea bass), cut into 1.5-inch chunks
- 1/2 lblarge shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 lbmussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1/3 cupfresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tbspfresh lemon juice
- 1 baguettecrusty bread (for serving)
Steps
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden.
- 2
Add the garlic, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, and saffron. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring, until the tomato paste darkens and smells deeply savory.
- 3
Pour in the white wine and scrape up any fond from the bottom of the pot. Simmer 2 minutes to cook off the sharp alcohol.
- 4
Add the crushed tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, orange zest strip, and remaining 1 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer.
- 5
Reduce heat to low and simmer the broth uncovered for 20 minutes to let the flavors marry. Taste and adjust salt.
- 6
Discard the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and orange zest strip. Bring the broth back to a gentle simmer.
- 7
Add the fish chunks first; they take the longest. Simmer 2 minutes.
- 8
Add the shrimp and mussels. Cover the pot and cook 4-5 minutes, just until the mussels have opened, the shrimp are pink, and the fish is opaque and flakes easily. Discard any mussels that have not opened.
- 9
Off heat, stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Taste once more and adjust salt or acid as needed.
- 10
Ladle into wide bowls. Serve immediately with thick slices of crusty bread.
One more thing
That's fish stew. Real fish stew. A bowl of the Mediterranean on a Wednesday night, made in your own kitchen, for less than what a single appetizer costs at the restaurant that does this exact thing and charges you thirty-eight dollars for it. Serve with a chunk of bread the size of your fist, a glass of cold white wine, and the smug confidence of someone who has cracked the code. You have cracked the code. You're welcome. Save me a piece.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Tremendous Fish Stew.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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