The Fish Head Soup That My Husband Won’t Eat
My husband would really eat anything I cook. I know this coz he tells me all the time and he does eat anything I serve him. When I’m thinking out loud what to make, or when I ask him what he wants to eat for lunch or dinner he’ll say, “make anything, you know I’ll eat it.” However, there’s one dish he’ll never eat. That’s fish head soup. Being a Filipino I’ve had my fair share of fish head soup growing up. The latter involves a fish head, sour broth, and veggies. It’s pretty much like any sour soup we love to call SINIGANG, either with chicken or pork.
With my husband’s frequent fishing trips you’d think I’m taking advantage of using the fish head all the time but that’s not the case at all. When he cleans the fish that means the head goes too. I don’t mind, really. I only ask him to save the head when I get the craving or the ambition to deal with cooking a fish head. When he caught the 5-pound bass last month it just didn’t feel right to throw away the head after I cut up the steaks for the sweet and sour dish so I saved it to make sinigang bass head soup. Since I was the only one in the family who would eat this it took me 4 days to finish it. I just warmed up a bowl in the microwave to eat for lunch.
Fish Head Sinigang
Ingredients
- bass head
- sm part of bass tail
- 3 tbsp oil
- 1 pack Mama Sita’s or Knorr sinigang mix (Asian stores)
- 5-6 cups water
- 1 med onion
- 1 long chili pepper
- salt and pepper
- a few leaves of napa cabbage (or bokchoy)
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
Instructions
- Heat up oil in a pan. Brown the fish head and tail, 3-5 minutes each side.
- Add the water, sinigang mix, tomatoes*, onions, and chili pepper. Season with salt and pepper then stir everything around. Cover and bring to a boil and continue to boil until the fish pieces are cooked. 20 to 25 minutes or so, maybe less. Stir occasionally and add more water if necessary.
- Once the fish pieces are cooked(flaky), add the napa cabbage leaves. Cover the pot and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Turn the stove off and just let the remaining heat cook the napa cabbage leaves.
A sour soup of any kind is the equivalent of hot chocolate for most Filipinos come fall & winter time or rainy season. Except, this sour soup is not just a warm drink to enjoy in a cup. It’s considered a main dish to enjoy for dinner or lunch, sometimes or preferably with hot white rice.
I reckon’ it’s an acquired taste to eat fish head soup so I don’t blame my husband if he’d say no to this. Interestingly enough, my husband had eaten pork sour soup and I’d like to believe he actually liked it.
