Turkish cuisine · Soups & Stews

Balık Çorbası (Aegean Fish Soup)

Aegean fish soup made from white fish with carrot, potato and celery, thickened with an egg-lemon terbiye.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g firm white fish fillet
• 1 carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 150 g celeriac
• 1 onion
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Peel the onion, carrot, potatoes and celeriac and cut into 1 cm cubes; check the white fish fillet for bones and cut into bite-sized pieces.
2. Melt the butter in a wide pot, sauté the onion over medium heat for 4–5 min. until translucent, then stir in the flour and cook for 1 min. until pale yellow without taking on colour.
3. Deglaze with 1.2 l hot water while stirring constantly, add the carrot, potato and celeriac and cook over gentle heat for 15 min. until the vegetables are just tender.
4. Add the fish pieces and let poach over lowest heat for just 5–6 min. until the flesh is white and opaque – never let it boil hard, or it will fall apart.
5. For the terbiye, whisk the egg yolks with the juice of the lemon, stir in 2 ladles of hot soup spoon by spoon so nothing curdles, and fold the mixture into the soup off the heat.
6. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately with lemon wedges.