Hey — Sorin here. If you’re going to make ciorbă de pește, do it like you mean it. No limp soups, no soggy fish. Here’s my version:
Ingredients (for ~4–6 servings)
- Whole fish (head + bones + fillets) — ~1 kg (or whatever you can grab)
- Aromatics & herbs for stock: onion halves, carrot, celery stalk, parsley stems, bay leaf, peppercorns
- Fresh herbs (parsley, lovage)
- Water — enough to cover
- Vegetables for the soup:
• Onion (chopped)
• Carrot (sliced)
• Bell pepper (chopped)
• Celery (chopped)
• Tomatoes (fresh or canned) + tomato paste
• Potatoes (diced) - Salt & pepper
- Sour agent: bors (traditional) or lemon juice / vinegar
- Smântână / sour cream (for serving)
- Garlic (for mujdei) — several cloves, peeled
- Vegetable oil (for frying + for mujdei)
Steps
1. (Optional but highly recommended) Sauté the vegetables first
This gives your soup depth and caramel notes — skip it only if you want bland.
- In your soup/stock pot, heat a bit of oil
- Add chopped onion, carrot, bell pepper, celery
- Sauté gently over medium heat until they soften and begin to color
- At the very end of that frying, add garlic (minced or crushed) for ~30 seconds — aroma only, don’t turn it bitter
- Take out half of that sautéed mix and save it (for later use)
Yes, this is optional — but your taste buds will file a formal complaint if you skip it.
2. Build the fish stock (head + bones + aromatics)
- Into the pot (with what remains of the sautéed veg), add fish head, bones, carcasses, etc.
- Add parsley stems, bay leaf, peppercorns
- Pour in just enough water to cover
- Bring to a gentle simmer (no roiling boil)
- Simmer ~20–30 minutes — coax out that fishy goodness
- Strain everything out (bones, heads, veggie bits). Salvage any stray fish meat if possible
- You’re left with clear stock + any salvageable meat
3. Build the body of the soup (without fish)
- Return the stock to a clean pot (or reuse the same after straining)
- Add the saved sautéed aromatics & veggies
- Add diced potatoes
- Add tomato + tomato paste components
- Season with salt & pepper
- Let it simmer until potatoes are soft (and rice, if you decide to use it, is cooked)
- Add bors or lemon to sour it (to taste, but it’s supposed to br tangy)
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Also chilly flakes if you like spicy.
4. Add fish & herbs (gently)
- Cube your fresh fish fillets / meat into ~1-inch pieces
- Gently lower them into the hot soup
- Sprinkle fresh herbs (parsley, lovage)
- Turn off heat immediately, cover the pot
- Let it rest, covered, for ~5 minutes — this “off-heat rest” finishes cooking the fish without turning it to mush
5. Serving & reheating strategy (leftovers, done smart)
- If you made more soup than you’ll eat now, only add fish + herbs to the portion you’re eating immediately
- Keep the rest of the soup (stock + veggies + potatoes + rice) without fish or herbs
- When reheating that base: heat gently, then repeat step 4 (add fresh fish cubes + herbs, cover, rest 5 minutes)
- Serve each bowl with a dollop of smântână / sour cream (in the bowl, not stirred into the pot)
6. The most important step: make mujdei de usturoi (garlic sauce)
This is your flavor bomb. Without mujdei, your ciorbă is only half a warrior.
Quick mujdei recipe (classic Romanian garlic sauce):
- Peel garlic cloves, crush them (mortar & pestle or press) + salt — make a paste
- Slowly whisk or blend in vegetable oil (emulsion style)
- Add a bit of water or lemon juice / vinegar to loosen it to your desired consistency
- Optionally, fold in smântână / sour cream for creaminess (some regions do)
- Add black pepper if you like
- Best served fresh — garlic loses its punch over time
Serve mujdei on the side (or drizzled) into each bowl of ciorbă. Don’t hold back.
Enjoy (seriously). If your kitchen survives the garlic onslaught, you’ve done well.