Homemade Fish Stock ~ Pressure Cooker Recipe 鱼头汤底

Homemade fish stock is essential in my home cooking. Apart from the flavour, it is packed with nutrients that our body requires. It makes a great soup base for noodles, rice vermicelli, pasta or it can be served as a daily nourishing soup with added tomatoes and vegetables.

Macaroni in homemade fish soup served with tread-fin slices, fish cake, quail eggs and spinach.
Photo updated: November 30, 2016.

Vermicelli in homemade fish soup served with Chinese Pomfret （斗鲳鱼）fillet.
Marinate the fish with some cornflour, salt, white pepper and sesame oil, 
cook in the homemade fish stock. A nutritious and delicious meal ready in 10 minutes.
Photo updated 29 June 2018. 

I normally make fish stock once a week and keep it in 3-4 freezer-safe containers to be stored in the freezer. Whenever I need it, just take out and thaw a little and boil it, add some rice vermicelli or Japanese Somen, meat/ prawns/ fish slices and vegetables, my son will finish eating everything served in his bowl just like this...

The picture on the top left was fish soup rice vermicelli served with vegetables, prawns and fish cake.
A very simple and nutritious meal that I prepared after picking my son from school late in the afternoon.
The cooking time is less than 10 minutes.
What's better than a comforting meal home-cooked by mom? Glad that my son enjoys my food ;)

Sliced Fish Soup made using homemade fish stock.
Photo updated: November 2021

All this while, I have been making the fish stock the conventional way - Pan fry in a pot, add water and simmer for 1 hour. When it's done, I have to wipe all my kitchen cabinets because there were some water droplets all over due to the continuous boiling/ simmering. 

Now that I have my pressure cooker, everything seems to be easier for me. After pan fry as usual, the pressure cooker will get the soup done without messing up my kitchen cabinets ;) Besides time and energy saving, I must share what's the BIG difference of fish stock cooked with conventional pot and pressure cooker: The texture of the flesh! 

I used to throw away the fish head after I made fish stock out of it because after one hour of simmering, the flesh turned out to be rough and dense. However, the fish head cooked in a pressure cooker, remain soft and flavourful that I classified it as 'still edible' and yes, we eat the flesh and my son keeps asking for more :)

This is how it looks like when it is chilled, just like jelly. It will return to liquid form after heating up.

Ingredients:

中文食谱：可在网页的右边点击Translate, 然后选择中文翻译

1kg Fish Head (Thread-fin/ grouper/ snapper, just get the fresh one!)

6 slices Ginger

1 Onion (cut into chunks)

1 Large or 2 Medium Size Carrots (cut into chunks)

1 tbsp Cooking Wine (Shao Xing Hua Tiao or Chinese Rice Wine)

1 litre Hot Water

Appliance: Ninja Foodi 

The Ninja Foodi that I'm using is a combination of a pressure cooker and air fryer in one appliance. Besides pressure cooking and air frying, there are other functions such as steam, slow cook, sear/ saute, bake/ roast, grill, dehydrate, sous vide, yoghurt, and keep warm. This cooker helps prepare quick meals without hassle, which I highly recommend to everyone who loves easy and hassle-free cooking with fewer pots and pans to wash. If you're interested, you can use our exclusive discount code to buy at the best market rate. I've attached the details and links below for easy reference.

SINGAPORE:

Ninja Foodi can be purchased from Ninja Kitchen Official Website. Cart out with Promo Code: MIKISNSG to get a 10% discount for any Ninja-Shark products.

MALAYSIA:

Ninja Foodi can be purchased via Ninja Shark Official Website. Cart out with Promo Code: MFAOP300 to get the lowest price deal.

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<< Click HERE >> to view more Ninja Foodi recipes and cooking videos, including easy one-pot-meal, chicken curry, roast chicken, roast pork ribs, crispy chicken, porridge, fish recipes, bread, kid-friendly snacks and many more...

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Method:

1. Heat some oil in the pot, add in ginger and onion, stir fry until fragrant. 

2. Add in the fish head, sear until both sides are golden brown. Add cooking wine and hot water, bring to a boil. 

3. Add in carrots. Pressure Cook (HI) for 20mins, natural release. The fish stock is ready by now. You may switch to Sear/ Saute mode to boil for another 10 minutes to enhance the flavour or just let it cool and keep it in the freezer for later use.

Note: If you do not have a pressure cooker, pan-fry in a pot and simmer for one hour. 

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By readers, from those who have tried this recipe:

By Jenny Yap