Healthy Food

Classic Scottish Cullen skink recipe

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This cullen skink recipe is a traditional Scottish classic. The silky fish soup is made with potatoes and fresh parsley, and is filling while still tasting deliciously light.

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 leek, finely sliced
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • 350g medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 500ml milk
  • 400g undyed smoked haddock, skin on
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped, to serve
  • Sea salt and black pepper

Method

  1. In a pan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and leek over a medium-low heat for up to ten minutes, until they’ve softened but have not quite coloured. Add in a pinch of nutmeg and season with a little salt and pepper.
  2. Add in the potato chunks, stir well, and add 200ml of water. Bring it up to a simmer and cook the potatoes until tender (approx. 25 minutes). Meanwhile, add the milk to another pan, along with the haddock and bay leaf. Slowly bring the milk up to a simmer (around ten minutes) and poach the haddock until it becomes opaque. Check it’s cooked and then remove from the milk. Keep the milk and remove the bay leaf.
  3. Pour the milk into the pan with the potatoes, and let it cook gently, roughly mashing some of the potatoes to thicken it, but leaving some whole. Remove the skin from the haddock and flake it into the soup just before serving. Serve with chopped parsley on top.