Dashi and White Fish Soup

Ingredients

  • 800 g water
  • 14 g Kombu, or dried shiitake
  • Wilting greens, such as pea vines, garlic greens, or dandelion greens, as needed
  • 4 scallion bulbs
  • Vegetables; snow peas, snap peas, scallion greens...
  • 10 g Bonito flakes
  • 113 g black cod or white fish
  • Soy sauce
  • Salt
  • Oil, for searing
  • Orange peel, 1 orange
  • Finishing oil, walnut, sesame or argan

Directions

Hydrate kombu
  1. Combine water and kombu in a pot, and simmer over low heat while you prepare your vegetables.
Prep vegetables
  1. Wash and chop up your wilting greens as desired. Again, you can leave them long and flowy or slice into bite-sized pieces.
  2. Slice onion bulbs into wedges.
  3. If you’d like additional veggies for garnish—snap peas, the greens from your spring onions, or whatever you have on hand—now’s a good time to chop them.
Finish broth and cook fish
  1. Add the bonito flakes to the pot of kombu and water, and cook over low heat. Adjust heat as necessary—you don’t want the mixture to boil. Your goal here is just to extract flavor.
  2. Divide filet widthwise into two equal pieces.
  3. Strain the broth. Straining is totally optional—it just depends on your taste. After straining, return broth to the pot and continue simmering. Season with a little soy sauce. Taste, and adjust seasoning as desired.
  4. Generously season fish portions with salt.
  5. Heat a pan over medium heat, and add oil. When pan is hot, add fish pieces and press down on them gently to encourage even browning. Sear about five minutes. You should hear a little sizzling sound while they cook. If you don’t hear a sizzle, turn the heat up a little. When fish has turned white on the sides but is still a little pink on top, it is done. Kill the heat and let the fish rest in the pan.
  6. Remove fish from pan and set aside.
Complete the Soup
  1. Peel an orange as you would for a cocktail garnish, and add one or two pieces to your strained broth. Let them steep for a minute, then remove.
  2. Add onions to the broth and let soften a few minutes. Throw in vegetables, saving delicate greens such as pea shoots for last, and continue heating, stirring to encourage even cooking.
  3. When the vegetables look the way you like ’em, divide soup evenly into bowls.
  4. Working quickly, flip a piece of fish, browned side up, into each bowl.
  5. Hit each bowl with the finishing oil of your choice, and serve right away.