Fish Broth - Thailand
And so my final week in Thailand is coming to an end. I've practiced yoga every day and managed to get a little bronzed (don't worry, I've slathered every inch of my body with spf). I've also managed to bribe the chef into making fish broth! My word she has come through with flying colours. It wasn't easy considering that we had to figure out the substitutes for a couple of the main stays in Thai cooking: sweet, salty, sour and spicy.
For the sweet I explained that the carrots used in making the broth provide ample sweetness. The salty came naturally from the fresh ocean fish and the spicy from the ginger. The broth is served with half a lime, which gave it a beautiful fresh kick, to solidify sour as a main player in this irresistibly tasty game. This, my hungry friends, is a seriously good fish stock that can be used as a base for Tom Yum soup, chowder, or simply the way I had it, just as a broth.
So here are some interesting facts on bone broths. The most important one is that the bones contain gelatine (collagen), which helps to repair the lining in our digestive tract. Diseases such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's and Colitis all occur because our immune system starts to attack our own bodies, and in the case of IBD's, the lining of the digestive tract. When this lining is compromised we experience bloating, stomach pains, bleeding and chronic diarrhoea. Consequently food is not processed and absorbed properly. For some science based facts on bone broth and it's protein rich collagen this article by Kaayla T.Daniel is a great read.
Fish Broth
Makes 4 litres
1.5 kg whole white ocean fish – scaled and gutted
10 medium carrots – tops removed and roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley
3 sticks celery
1 inch ginger – roughly chopped
1 onion – peeled and cut in quarters
5 garlic cloves – peeled and crushed
10 peppercorns
6 cloves
3 bay leaves
- Combine all the ingredients into a large cooking pot with a little over 4 litres of water.
- Bring to boil and then simmer on low for 4 hours.
- Discard the fish and vegetables and let cool.
- Then divide into portions and freeze for future use.
- Serve with ½ lime when serving and a sprinkle of coriander/cilantro if desired.
