Psarosoupa: A Greek Fish Soup for the Fish Days of the Fast
Fish days are the bright spots inside an Orthodox fast — the Annunciation and Palm Sunday in Great Lent, the Transfiguration in the Dormition Fast — and psarosoupa is the soup Greek kitchens make to honour them. A whole fish goes into the pot with potatoes, carrots, celery and olive oil; twenty minutes later you have a broth that tastes of the sea, a platter of vegetables, and fish to break into chunks and return to the bowl with rice and a great squeeze of lemon.
Most modern recipes finish psarosoupa avgolemono — whisking egg yolks and lemon into a creamy sauce. On a fish day, that finish is not available: fish is permitted, eggs are not. So this recipe makes the older, plainer soup — the one from island and monastic kitchens — where the broth stays clear and light, the lemon goes in unmediated, and the olive oil floats in gold droplets on the surface. It is not a lesser soup. It is the one the day actually asks for, and it is delicious.
Ingredients
- 1.1–1.4 kg (2½–3 lb) white fish — red snapper, cod or monkfish — scaled and cleaned
- 7–8 cups water
- 2 potatoes, cubed
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 10–15 whole black peppercorns
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1½ tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- ½ cup rice
- ¼–½ cup fresh lemon juice, to taste
Method
- Put the water, fish, potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, olive oil, peppercorns and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a large pot. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes, until the fish is just cooked and the vegetables are tender.
- With a slotted spoon, carefully lift the fish and vegetables out onto a platter. Strain the broth through a fine strainer to catch every bone, rinse the pot, and return the strained broth to it.
- Add the rice and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt to the broth. Bring back to the boil, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked.
- While the rice cooks, take the skin and bones off the fish — carefully, checking twice — and break the flesh into generous chunks. Check the vegetables for stray bones too.
- Return the fish chunks and as many of the vegetables as you like to the pot. Stir in the lemon juice, starting with ¼ cup, and warm everything through gently for 2–3 minutes.
- Taste and adjust: more salt, more lemon, as you like. Serve at once, in deep bowls, with toasted bread.
Rule source: Orthodox fasting rule per the Typikon (chs. 32–33), as published in OCA and GOARCH fasting guidance: on a fish day, backboned fish, wine and olive oil are permitted; meat, dairy and eggs are still set aside. Eggs are never part of a fish day — which is why this soup has no egg-lemon finish.
Notes
- Why there is no avgolemono. The egg-lemon sauce is the famous finish of psarosoupa on ordinary days — but egg is not permitted at the fish level of the fast. Omitting it is not a shortcut; the plain lemon broth is itself a traditional preparation. (The source recipe for this post does finish with egg yolks; our record deliberately does not — see the compliance note below.)
- Fish choice. Red snapper, cod and monkfish all work. A fish with its head on makes the best broth; ask the fishmonger to scale and clean it.
- Bones are the whole job. Strain the broth properly and check the chunks twice. Nobody remembers a good soup with a bone in it kindly.
- Brothier or thicker? For a more brothy soup, add 3–4 extra cups of water at the start. The soup also thickens as it stands, as the rice drinks the broth — it is best eaten freshly made, with hot water on hand to loosen it.
Frequently asked questions
When can I eat psarosoupa during the fast?
On fish days — the days the calendar permits fish, wine and oil, such as the Annunciation (March 25) and Palm Sunday in Great Lent, and the Transfiguration (August 6) in the Dormition Fast.
Can I use fish fillets instead of a whole fish?
Yes, though the broth will be lighter. Simmer firm fillets for the last 10 minutes only, and add a fish head or bones if your fishmonger will give them to you for the stock.
Is lemon juice really enough without the egg sauce?
Yes — the lemon, the olive oil and a good fish broth are the three flavours of this soup in its plain form. Be generous with the lemon and serve at once. ---
