Garlic Broth with Halibut
Wow, today we had a windy day here in the lower mainland of Vancouver with gusts as high as 80 km/h! I walked my dog this morning and we were blown away a few times with some gusts. I was chilled right down to the bone all day. I thought it was a perfect day to have hot garlic broth with some halibut.
I had my eye on this recipe which originally called for scallops, but I thought it would be great to substitute it with halibut pieces. Halibut is a very beautiful fish, I wanted to celebrate it in a delicate yet tasty broth versus hiding it in a soup with many ingredients (like a chowder).
Garlic Broth With Pan Seared Halibut Ingredients:
- 1- 1/2 large garlic bulb separated into peeled cloves
- 2 celery stalk, chopped
- 2 carrot, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 15 peppercorns
- 6 parsley stems
- 1/2 red thai chile pepper, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 6 cups water
- 8 oz halibut
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper
- fresh cilantro for garnish
Garlic Broth With Pan Seared Halibut Instructions:
- Combine garlic cloves, celery, carrot, onion, peppercorns, parsley stems, red thai chile, tomato paste and water in a saucepan with good pinch of salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer partially covered for 45-50 minutes.
- Strain in a fine sieve into clean saucepan. Keep warm over low heat.
- Cut halibut in small chunks
- Season halibut on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat up olive oil over medium-high. When pan is hot, cook the fish for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Turn, reduce the heat to medium, and cook about 3-4 minutes longer, until the fish is firm/opaque in the center and browned on both sides.
- Divide halibut pieces among bowls
- Ladle soup over the scallops, then garnish with cilantro leaves. And enjoy!
Original Recipe: Soup Bowl, An inspiring Collection of Soups, Broths, and Chowders, Seared Scallops in Garlic broth (page 195)
What I Changed From Original Recipe: The first time I tried the original recipe the broth was a bit tasteless as well as clear (didn’t look to appealing). I adjusted the original recipe a fair bit:
- Doubled carrot and celery.
- Used more garlic and peppercorns.
- Used halibut instead of scallops.
- Added tomato paste.
- I peeled the cloves (original recipe called for unpeeled).
- Added red chile pepper to give it a tad of heat.
- Simmered for longer period to extract the flavors more from garlic as well as vegetables.
Soup Mistress Rating for Garlic Broth With Pan Seared Halibut:
Healthy (+ slimming + low sodium): (4.5/5)
Presentation: (4/5)
Taste: (4.25/5)