This is a variation of a traditional Czech Christmas Soup. Usually they make a fish broth for Christmas, which I find a bit weird (I can handle a chopped chicken floating around in a pot, but somehow not a chopped fish head). But this is a creamy version, with extra tanginess from the Sauerkraut, I absolutely love. It is an adapted version of a recipe given to me by a Czech mother, who put her heart and soul into cooking. All her good tasted like someone giving your stomach a huge hug — I hope you will enjoy this recipe. 🙂 *picture courtesy of resh.iprima.cz (I need to take a picture this Christmas 🙂 )
Ingredients
- 500 g Sauerkraut, drained, rinsed
- 5 Potatoes, cut into small cubes
- 200 g Dried Mushrooms ("Steinpilze"), chopped
- 1 Large onion, chopped finely
- 200 g Mushrooms, chopped
- 250 g Salmon
- 250 g Scallops
- 250 g Other white fish
- 1 l buillon
- 2 cups Heavy cream
- 5 tbsp Butter
- 2 Bay leaves
- 4 pieces All spice
- 1 tbsp Parsley
- 4 pieces Pepper
Instructions
- Cook everything except the fish and cream slowly, about one hour.
- After one hour, In a small frying pan, melt butter about 4 tablespoons, and add sliced scallops, sauté only briefly, because it is easy to overcook it and then it becomes gummy. If you can’t get scallops, any mild fish or fish inards will do, just chop small pieces and sauté it in the butter briefly, adding ground pepper and then add to the soup.
- Remove the bay leaf and the all spice as you find them. Bring the whole pot to boil, and slowly add cream while stirring, cook 1 minute and pull off the heat. You can use evaporated milk instead of cream, less fatty and less chance that it would curdle.
- Season with ground pepper and salt if needed. The soup is best made ahead even few hours, so that the flavors can develop.
