Salmon Stock

Easy salmon stock made with the head, bones, and any other leftover parts of fish. Better tasting and cheaper than any bought fish stock!

Salmon stock is the best thing you could possibly make with leftover salmon head and bones! Really! This salmon bone stock is just amazing!

I have been cooking the fish stock for years now, with every salmon head I’ve ever had and I even buy frozen packages full of salmon heads and bones just to make this fish stock. They are super cheap and the resulting broth is better than any ready-made stock I could possibly buy.

Not to mention that buying one packet of frozen heads and bones and some veggies costs less than buying one single jar of fish broth. And it definitely makes more than 2 cups stock!

Ingredients

• Salmon heads and bones. And any other leftover pieces, like tail, skin scraps, or bony bits of flesh.
• You will need about 1 ½ kg/ 3.3 lbs, a little more or less is not important.
• If you happen to have leftovers from other fish sorts, just throw them in the pot as well.
• Whenever I have some heads, tails, or bones I freeze them until I have enough to make stock. The leftovers from just one fish will not be enough.

• Vegetables: celery stalks, small fennel bulbs, leek, onion.
• Spices: garlic, black peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves, salt.
• Other ingredients: lemon, white wine, olive oil.

How to make fish stock?

One of the great things about this recipe is that is so much quicker to make than any other stock or broth. Chicken and beef stock have to be cooked for hours and bone broths need to simmer on low for an entire day.

But that is not the case with the salmon stock or any other fish broth actually.If you cook a fish stock for more than 30 minutes, it will not taste good anymore.

Steps:

• Wash the fish parts very well under cold running water. Massage it lightly with your hands, and rinse again.
• Prepare the vegetables. Clean and chop them roughly.
• Cook the vegetables in the oil for about 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent.
• Add the fish parts and stir gently for about 2 minutes.
• Add the white wine, water, salt, and all the spices.
• Bring to a boil, then lower the heat.
• Skim the stock with a slotted spoon.
• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Line a fine-meshed sieve with a clean muslin cloth. Strain the broth into another pot.
• Transfer it to clean, large jars or bottles and let cool completely.

How to store?

• You can keep the salmon stock in the refrigerator for about 4-5 days.
• To keep it for longer, freeze it.
• In this case, leave about 2 cm/ 0.8 inches headspace in the jars and don’t seal them. Just place the lid on top without screwing it.
• Freeze for 4 to 6 months. It will still be ok long after that, but the quality is best if you only freeze for up to 6 months.

Uses for salmon fish stock

• Make Fish Vegetable Soup or Moqueqa de Peixe. Or any other fish soup recipe you like.
• Make salmon chowder.
• Use as a base for seafood stews or fish curries.