Earlier when I went to Fassler (the salmon factory at Woodlands Loop), I bought two big packs (2 kg worth) of salmon belly and so happened that I came across a Salmon Belly Miso Soup Recipe by food editor Tan Hsueh Yun in The Sunday Times, I decided to give the recipe a try.
Salmon Belly Miso Soup Recipe
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
250g salmon bones
250g salmon belly, cut into bite size cubes
200g radish (daikon), cut into chunks
250g napa cabbage
200g enoki mushrooms
100g shimeji mushrooms
300g block silken tofu, cut into cubes
2 tbsp mild white miso paste
drizzle of fish sauce
6 cups water
Instructions
1. Place salmon bones in a soup pot and add water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.
2. When the stock is ready, remove all the salmon bones with a pair of tongs and set aside.
3. Scrape the salmon flesh off the bones and add them into the stock together with the radish. Bring the stock to a boil again and simmer till the radish is soft. Discard the bones.
4. Add salmon belly, cabbage, mushrooms and tofu and bring to a boil.
5. Turn off heat and stir in miso paste. Season with fish sauce if preferred.
Recipe adapted from The Straits Times
I used salmon jaws and cheeks to make the fish stock as I got them really cheap (only $2) for a big bag from Fassler. It was a bonus as the meat at the cheek area was supposed to be the best part of the fish. I did not strain the stock as it was easy to remove the bones from the pot with a pair of tongs. However if you’re using other small scraps and bones, do strain the stock thoroughly. You wouldn’t want to be gulping down fish bones!
The original recipe had the miso paste stirred into the stock just before the radish was added but I chose to add mine at the end when the heat was turned off as I had read before that miso should not be boiled so as to preserve its flavour and healthy enzymes. Also, since I used a mildly flavoured (no MSG) miso paste, I added a tinge of fish sauce for extra flavour.
Overall, the soup tasted light and fishy but if you like salmon, that fishy flavour would be quite manageable.
Salmon belly contains high levels of omega 3 fatty acids which ease collagen production so ladies, let’s eat more salmon bellies for healthy skin! Bon appetit!