Salmon is my favorite fish. And my favorite parts of the salmon are the head and belly. I had been craving salmon head soup for the longest time so, for lunch today, I cooked a very Southeast Asian salmon head soup flavored with lemongrass, ginger and lime juice.

Unlike the flesh from the body of salmon which gives you a singular mouthfeel, the head of the salmon gives you more. The fatty skin and flesh around the mouth are gelatinous. So are the eyes. The “cheeks” beneath the bony plates that cover both sides of the head are moist and sticky.

So, this is salmon head soup. And you have to have salmon head to make it. If you substitute the head of some other fish, the soup will taste different. Not necessarily better or worse. Just different.

Tips for buying salmon head

When buying salmon head (this is true in the Philippines but I don’t know if this is true in other parts of the world), I go for the S-cut.

S-cut means straight cut. The head is cut off in a straight line so that a generous portion of the back and belly of the fish go with the head. It’s pricier than V-cut salmon head.

V-cut means the head is carved so that no part of the back or belly is sold with the fish head. It’s cheaper but you won’t get a lot of edible parts with the V-cut. You just get the eyes, the gelatinous skin and the “cheeks” underneath the bony plates that cover either side of the head below the eyes.

If you’re buying salmon head to make broth, the V-cut is good enough. You want the bones and not the flesh to flavor the cooking liquid.

But if you’re serving the fish head itself, it’s much nicer to be able to get more edible parts. The S-cut is the better choice.

Salmon head soup with lemongrass, ginger and lime juice

Lemongrass, ginger, scallions, garlic and tomatoes are sauteed to make the base for the broth. Lime juice is stirred in towards the end of cooking time.

If serving fish head soup to people who might feel intimidated by the appearance of eyes and mouth, you may pre-cook the fish head, pick the edible parts and discard the bones. Cook as below but add the cooked fish at the end of cooking time.

Salmon head soup with lemongrass, ginger and lime juice

Prep: 10

Cook: 20

Total: 30

Servings: 4 people

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Asian

Label: Salmon

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Connie’s notes

Ask your fish monger to chop the salmon head for you. Otherwise, you will need a heavy knife to do the task at home (be prepared to make a mess).

Ingredients

3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 2-inch knob ginger peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
¼ cup thinly sliced scallions white and light green portions only
3 to 4 stalks lemongrass white portion only peeled and thinly sliced
4 tomatoes diced
fish sauce
ground black pepper
1 kilogram salmon head chopped through the bone into eight pieces (see notes)
2 eggplants diced
2 to 4 tablespoons lime juice lemon or calamansi juice may be substituted
⅓ cup thinly sliced scallions dark green portion only
cilantro to garnish

Instructions

Heat the cooking oil in a pot.
Saute the ginger, garlic, scallions (white and light green portions only), lemongrass and tomatoes with a tablespoon of fish sauce and a few pinches of pepper.
Pour in six cups of water and bring to the boil.
Drop in the salmon head pieces and the eggplants. Allow the liquid to boil again.
Turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer the salmon head and vegetables for about ten minutes.
Taste the broth and add more fish sauce if needed.
Off the heat, stir in the lime juice.
Sprinkle in the dark green portion of the scallions.
Garnish with cilantro and serve.

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