Pike Perch Soup

Lay out the necessary products for making pike perch soup on the table.

Remove all the scales from the pike perch. Then carefully cut open the belly of the fish, remove the insides, and peel off the dark membrane inside the incision in the fish's belly. Be sure to remove the gills from the head. Place the pike perch body under a stream of cold water and rinse it well from blood and remaining scales. After this, use kitchen scissors to trim all the fins, including the tail fin. Do not throw away the fins.

Cut off the head of the pike perch, and divide the body into pieces according to the number of servings. Since we have 3 servings, we cut the body into 3 equal pieces. If you have several small fish, there is no need to cut them, leave them whole along with their heads.

Clean and rinse the onion. The last layer of the onion's peel can be left on; it will give the soup a beautiful color. Peel and wash the carrot. There is no need to cut it.

Pour 1.6 liters of purified cold water into a pot. Drop our pieces of pike perch, half the onion, and the whole root of the carrot into the water. Bring to a boil over heat. Adjust so that the boiling is not too vigorous, and let it cook for 10-15 minutes. Keep in mind that in the first minutes of boiling, skim off the foam to prevent the soup from turning cloudy.

After 10-15 minutes, carefully take out the pieces of fish onto a plate. It is convenient to do this gently with a slotted spoon so that the pieces do not fall apart. Also, add the carrot here. Cover the plate with a lid so that the pieces of fish remain juicy. Discard the head, onion, and fins. Carefully strain the fish broth through a fine sieve and return it back to the pot.

Clean, rinse the potatoes, and cut them into medium-sized pieces. Cut the boiled carrot from the broth into circles. We will also add it to the soup. If you do not like carrots, you can omit them from the soup and use them for other dishes.

Add the potatoes and carrots to the boiling broth, and cook until the potatoes are ready, about 15 minutes. Keep the heat low.

Now add the pieces of pike perch to the pot with the potatoes and carrots.

Add salt to taste, bay leaves, allspice, and black pepper. If desired, you can add other favorite spices. For a beautiful color, you can add 1/3 tsp of sweet paprika or turmeric. This will not affect the taste, but the soup will become brighter and more appetizing.

And what kind of soup would it be without dill and parsley? Of course, add a generous amount of chopped greens.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook the soup for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it stand for a while to infuse and become even tastier.

The pike perch soup is ready. Serve it hot in bowls.