Vylkove Fish Soup with Salamur

Pelican-approved. Photo: Klopotenko.com

Today's recipe hails from the Danube delta region of Ukraine, and is a part of a quite vibrant shared food culture in areas of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania (and I've read also Bulgaria). It features strong influences from these southern regions that includes a bit of spice and an accompanying sauce.

Vylkove is a city in Ukraine that is full of well-traveled canals (the city itself is actually a collection of 70 islands) and it is often called the "Ukrainian Venice".

Morning rush hour.

Evening commute.

\"Why don't I deserve some fish? After all,\" grumbled Mr. Cat, \"it has been a very, very long day.\"

That's all fine and dandy, but due to the presence of the unbelievably beautiful Danube delta, a very special ecological area, I prefer to think of this area as Ukraine's southern bayou 🙂 If you'd like to read about it detail, check out our post from all the way back on Day 221 HERE. The region is home to many, many Pelicans as a part of the Danube Biosphere Reserve…. accordingly, this part of Ukraine has many unique local fish-based recipes (they use fish in borshch and other Ukrainian staples). Perhaps today's soup was originally a Pelican-invented dish???

Note: if you're a fish soup fan, you can also check out the recipe for a mushroom and fish soup we wrote about here. It contains a little information about potential substitutes for carp (a popular fish in Ukrainian dishes, and one that is featured in the dish below).

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How to Make Vylkove Fish Soup with Salamur

By Yevhen Klopotenko, at Klopotenko.com

Ingredients for Soup

1½-2 kg / 3¼-4½ lb. carp (silver carp)

1 red bell pepper

4-5 potatoes

3 liter water

2-3 tomatoes

1 parsley root

3-5 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil

5 sprigs dill

2-3 tbsp. vinegar

1 slice bread

salt, pepper to taste

Ingredients for Salamur

1 cup fish broth

5 sprigs dill

2 cloves garlic

2-3 tbsp. vinegar

Recipe

Step 1: Scale the fish, remove guts and gills. Wash well and cut into large pieces.

Step 2: Put the fish in a saucepan, cover with water and cook for 10 minutes with parsley root (chopped into large chunks), 2 cloves garlic, bay leaves, and bell pepper cut into small cubes. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3: Remove 1 cup broth for salamur and cool it in a glass jar.

Step 4: Add potatoes diced into medium-sized cubes to the broth. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Step 5: At the very end, add peeled and grated tomatoes. Bring the soup to a boil, cook for 4–5 minutes and switch off the heat. The fish soup is ready.

Step 6: Salamur. Add finely chopped dill, pressed garlic and vinegar to the glass jar with cold fish broth.

Step 7: Serve the fish soup hot with salamur [Editor's note: swirl into the soup, or dip bread or fish pieces in it] and a slice of flavorful bread.