Soup, stock, fish, home-prepared

Fish stock is the working base of seafood cookery, simmered from fish bones, heads and trimmings, often lean white fish like flounder or sole, along with onion, celery, parsley stems and a splash of white wine, then strained clean. It underlies chowders, bisques, cioppino and fish soups, and works as the poaching liquid for delicate fillets or the base for a beurre blanc. Unlike meat stocks, it should simmer gently for well under an hour, since longer cooking pulls bitterness from the bones instead of more flavor.

Homemade fish stock keeps about 3 to 4 days refrigerated in a sealed container, or freezes well in ice cube trays for portioned use later. At just 16 calories and 0.81 g fat per 100 g, about a cup at 233 g, it is a low-calorie way to build flavor into soups without adding fat, though the 156 mg sodium per 100 g comes largely from any salt added while simmering, so taste before salting a finished dish further. With only 2.26 g protein per 100 g, it functions as a flavor base rather than a protein source, best paired with the fish, shellfish or vegetables it will eventually carry.