Salmon Head Fish Stock

Salmon Head Fish Stock

Tara Carpenter, NC.

Nutrition Consultant specialized in helping people regain natural gut microbiome after yeast, bacterial, and viral infections.

Originally published on April 1, 2019.

My name is Tara and I come to talk about salmon heads packed with tender meat and abundant fat along the jawbone …. prized for making rich fish stock that can be used as a base for soup of any kind, salmon head stock contains vitamin A, Omega-3, iron, zinc, and calcium. I was very apprehensive to make fish stock because I only had experience making meat stock (chicken, lamb, rooster, beef, etc.) and imagined our home smelling fishy and turning my kids off from trying in the first place!

My youngest eating a whole fish, including the eyes and brain.

Benefits of fish (and meat) stock …. this liquid gold can strengthen bones and joints, reverse tooth decay, act as an anti-inflammatory, and bring health to thyroid, eyes, and gut lining. What convinced me to make fish head stock is learning this traditional food has been around centuries and revered in many parts of world. So into the kitchen I went …

A meal fit for my little king of a three year old 🙂

As my readers know, I love traditional foods like milk kefir, cod liver oil, unsalted kraut, marrow, and liver. These are the foods I give my attention to and talk about; the foods gracing my kitchen with a hope of normalizing them for my children who will one day give to my grandchildren 🙂 This looking ahead propelled me to the fish market for wild salmon heads. I was surprised to find the smell pleasant and the stock savory as chicken stock with such a delicacy. Easy to make, 2 hours start to finish.

He leaves nothing on the fish head other than the bones.

Fish Head Stock 

Makes: about 5 cups

Ingredients

1-2 pounds of salmon fish heads

2-4 garlic cloves

1-2 bay leaves

1-2 Tbsp. ginger, thinly sliced

Method

1. Remove gills with kitchen shears; these are attached to the head on each end; cut them at the joint where they attach. Discard. If you skip this part, the gills will give stock bad color and off-taste. Ask the guy behind the fish counter to remove them for you.
2. Clean thoroughly with water and place in a soup pot with enough water to cover heads by at least 1-inch.
3. Add 2-4 garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, and 1-2 Tbsp. thin sliced ginger.
4. Bring to simmer and reduce heat to low.  
5. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, should only bubble slightly, note that cooking for more than an hour will turn the stock bitter.
6. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.
7. Strain through a couple layers of cheesecloth.
8. Pick the meat and soft tissue off bones, anything soft is edible, including eyes and brains.
9. Return the meat and tissue to the stock.
10. Store in fridge up to 5 days or freeze several months.

Tips & Tricks

• Add sauteed onions, garlic, leeks, cabbage, or lemon at any point while the fish heads cook.
• Substitute fish stock for vegetable stock in fish chowder or creamy salmon soup.
• Squeamish about fish eyes? No worries, they dissolve into stock and fatty tissue around eyes is rich in vitamin A.
• Head is healthiest part of fish to eat, also the spine. 
• Salmon heads give stock strong flavor; if want mild flavor try cod, halibut, bass, or another white fish. Use one type of fish or combo.
• This is a friendly recipe for those on Body Ecology Diet; a healing protocol for gut imbalances (i.e., yeast overgrowth, GBS+).
• If you have leaky gut, Crohn’s, autism, ADHD, seizures/tics, avoid long-cooked broth (stick to short-cooked stocks) because free glutamates (MSG, glutamine, glutamic acid) will increase the longer bones are cooked and this can be bothersome.
• Hard time sourcing fish heads? Special order from these guys. 
• Here’s a list of fish to eat, fish to avoid.

This recipe is from Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel who says best stock for bone/tooth decay comes from wild fish carcasses, heads, and organs.

Rooster Meat Stock

Apple Cider Kefir

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References

Nagel, R. (2011). Cure Tooth Decay. Los Gatos, CA: Golden Child Publishing

Paula, CHS. (2012). Author of a website called Whole Intentions Fish Heads in My Stock Pot

Schuette, K. (2017). Stock vs. Broth – Are You Confused. Retrieved from Healthy Home Economist

Worker Bee (2016). Fish Head Broth. Retrieved from Mark’s Daily Apple

Photo credit: https://thedomesticman.com/tag/stock/

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 May all bellies be happy!