By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 1 hour, with prepared lobster stock
- Rating
- 4(1,249)
- Notes
- Read community notes
You can make any soup with water instead of stock, but the soups that drive you wild usually have a beautiful stock as their base. This is doubly true of bouillabaisse, which should start with a stock so delicious that you can barely imagine improving on it. There are a few ways to do this: Grab fish bones when you see them, and make the stock incrementally. Another is to use shrimp shells. A third is to accumulate lobster bodies, which make fantastic stock. In any case, you combine whatever you have with some aromatics (thyme branches, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, peppercorns) add water and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. Cool, strain and freeze if you like. When you're ready to make the soup, procure your seafood – pretty much any combination of fish and shellfish will do, but avoid dark-fleshed fish – and go forth. From there, it's no more difficult than making a pot of vegetable soup.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- Good olive oil, as needed
- 4 to 8thick slices good bread
- 1onion, chopped
- 4cloves garlic, chopped
- 2celery stalks, trimmed and chopped
- 1carrot, trimmed and chopped
- 1medium new potato, peeled and chopped
- 1small bulb fennel, trimmed and chopped
- ¼teaspoon saffron, optional
- 3cups lobster or fish stock
- 2cups chopped tomatoes, with their juice (canned are O.K.)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 to 1½pounds chopped boneless fish and shellfish, preferably a variety
- 8littleneck clams
- 8mussels
- 2sea scallops
- 2tablespoons Pernod or other pastis, optional
- Chopped fennel fronds, for garnish
- Chopped basil or parsley, for garnish
- Rouille, optional
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
338 calories; 11 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 33 grams protein; 1013 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 400 degrees; brush bread liberally with olive oil, and bake on a sheet, turning once, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
Step
2
Add enough olive oil to a Dutch oven, deep skillet or shallow pot to make a thick layer (don't skimp) on the bottom. In it, cook onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato, fennel and saffron until glossy. Add stock and tomato and bring to a moderate boil; cook until thick and stewy rather than soupy. Season to taste; it should be so delicious that you don’t even care whether you add fish.
Step
3
Lower heat to a simmer, and, as you add fish, adjust heat so that the liquid continues to bubble gently. Add fish in order of how long they will take to cook. Monkfish, striped bass and squid are fish that might require more than a few minutes, so add them first. About five minutes later add clams and mussels, holding back any fish that has been cooked or will cook in a flash. When mollusks open, add remaining fish. Cut scallops into quarters and place in the bottom of 4 bowls.
Step
4
Add pastis if you're using it; taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle hot soup and fish over the scallops, distributing clams and mussels evenly. Garnish and serve with croutons and rouille, if you're using.
Tip
- To make rouille, add ½ cup finely minced roasted, peeled and seeded red bell pepper, 2 cloves finely minced garlic and cayenne to taste to either homemade or store-bought mayonnaise.
Ratings
4
out of 5
1,249
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Cooking Notes
George Grumbach
The best essay on bouillabaisse was by A.J. Liebling in the New Yorker on Oct. 27, 1962 http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1962/10/27/the-soul-of-bouillabaisse-town
Nina
must add saffron . does not taste authentic without it. and don't skip the rouille, it's the part all will remember! sure lobster stock is amazing but the recipe works also great with fish stock. home made or purchased
Yma
This was a very good and very forgiving recipe. I had the seafood on hand, but got snowed in before I could get the rest of the stuff. I didn't have celery, fennel, Pernod or parsley/basil. I substituted leeks, a bit of baby bok choy (!), a teaspoon of fennel seeds, and ouzo. Even if my creation wasn't quite bouillabaisse, it was absolutely delicious and the texture superb. Something tells me that the originators of bouillabaisse would've just thrown in whatever they had on hand, too.
Francois de Melogue
Might be a good fish soup but nothing about this is bouillabaisse. Bouillabaisse soup base is made by making a broth in which lots of fish that is milled. This is essential and what gives volume and is the soul of bouillabaisse. The best fish is rascasse, if you are in America like me use rockfish that is easily available. Rockfish has lots of gelatin that binds the broth Then you poach your seafood in this broth. Be sure to marinate fish first in evoo, saffron, pastis...
Chef Jeff
What stands out to me, (and I'm surprised that I'm the only reviewer who mentioned it) is that this recipe purports to feed 4-6 people. Maybe I'm a garvone, but how do you divide 2 sea scallops between 6 people? This entire recipe needs to be doubled (at least) to feed 6 people!
Patrick Chadd
I made this as directed and it was simply FANTASTIC. It needs an authentic rouille and some grilled bread for it to be literally THE BEST. It can all be done ahead until it's time to add the shellfish and fish so it's a good dinner party dish as well.
Hally
The saffron and pastis are not optional! I made this for Christmas Eve tonight and my father-in-law said it is the best thing he has ever tasted. And it may be the most delicious meal I’ve ever made.
LC
This was by far the best recipe I’ve used for bouillabaisse. It was a bit soupy so I added a large spoonful of tomato paste and it helped thicken it up nicely, not too much. I used King crab legs, muscles, halibut, squid, jumbo shrimp, and scallops. It was delicious 😋 saffron was a must! I added parsley, basil, fennel and a bay leaf.
Lloyd
Definitely add in additional broth and let it simmer covered prior to adding all the seafood - brings out so much more of the flavor that way! If you can avoid using canned tomatoes - they don’t break down as easily and are a distraction.
Tim
Lobster! Boil frozen tails (1 per serving) for 5-10 min, then remove the tails from the water and remove the lobster meat from the tails, dicing it and reserving in the fridge. Return the tails to the cooking water water and add mirepoix + aromatics to make the stock. After you've apportioned stew in the bowls, pile on the lobster and garnish with lemon zest, parsley, and evoo. Don't mix in the lobster–the cold lobster w/ a zesty garnish contrasts well with the scrumptiously warm stew.
Diane
Sounds great - like the idea of a chopped potato as a thickener versus the brothy versions I've made
Tom, SFBA
Having made this great stew a number og times, I can recommend the addition of more shellfish than called for here. Add them early, they add to the flavor and are a treat.
jodi
First time making bouillabaisse - this was probably the greatest dish I’ve ever made. Everybody at the table was stunned by this dish!! Saffron and Pernod made it perfect. I used halibut, clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp.
nylanyc
Made my own stock using shrimp shells and was worried it was not going to be flavorful enough, but the final product was delicious. Saffron was a must; did not add the Pernod. Added the fish first and then had some difficulty getting the shellfish all submerged without breaking the fish apart (purchased too much shellfish, beyond what was called for in the recipe). The fish was the star of the show, so next time will cut back on the other seafood.
Cara W.
I agree that pastis and rouille take this dish from good to absolutely delicious. I made the mistake of making the rouille in a food processor and it was really thin. I added some blanched almonds and that seemed to do the trick. My husband said it was better than the Bouillabaisse we had in Marseille. Bon Appetit!
Thomas
The canned tomatoes vs fish broth balance felt wrong. I was ending up with a fishy tomato sauce rather than a bouillabaisse - which what the picture looks like. Fortunately I had made much more broth than what I needed, so I poured it in, and the result was great. Also, the rouille recipe felt wrong. Make a mayonnaise with a fair amount of grated garlic, a little chili and a pinch of saffron is how we do it in Provence.
Billt T
I add Saffron and coconut milk, its outareogiously good!
Robin
Made homemade fish stock and followed the recipe, except no Pernod, but something was missing. Didn't have the depth and flavor I was seeking. Maybe I needed more guidance on seasoning/salt and fish selection. Used white fish, clams, mussels and scallops. No other shellfish... maybe that was the problem?
Mireille
I suggest adding anchovy paste to improve the flavor. I would also add it to the rouille, that I described above
Boone Williamson
I Love this dish. It's a good weeknight dinner dish and it's also very good for supplementing. Personally I think this dish needs Paffron and Parsley to really bring out the taste. It One Hundred Percent needs a 5 star review.
my. notes
Add 1 T tomato paste when cooking vegetables.
TaiL
Do not skip the saffron! It's not the same without it. Otherwise, this is yet another flexible, delicious recipe from Bittman/ NYTimes Cooking. I love the flexible recipes that you can eat for several days. When I went to my fish market, Cosentino's in Bay Ridge, the owner was behind the counter. When I ordered, he realized exactly what I was making!
LFT
This soup dish (I called it “shrimp bouillabaisse”) was made very simple by using just branzini and a large number of very large shrimp. The vegetables needed to be cooked longer for them to soften which then caused the tomatoes to break down. I didn’t have enough fish stock so I added a quarter tsp of dashi which contributed to the umami. And adding garlic and olive oil before roasting the bread was delicious (thank you previous contributor!). An easy version for a quick weekday dinner!
Melissa
Simple, flavorful, fabulous recipe easy to adjust to make it your own. Can't wait to make again.
Doug G
Had no luck finding fish heads, bones, scraps…very disappointing! Luckily, I was able to rely on past experience with anchovies and fish sauce! I boiled a bunch of shrimp shells along with those amazing flavor enhancing anchovies and fish sauce…and WOW! Instant deliciousness!Then followed Bittman’s recipe. Just luscious….
Bill Thompson
After I cooked everything but the fish I used an emulsifier to puree the stock then I added a can of light coconut milk. Our guests were blown away, most said it was the best they ever had. I also used homemade stock made out of lobster shells.
Marypettyanderson
You can make the base the day before and refrigerate, and add seafood the next day for a lunch party.
Richard graham
no mussels or clams.....anything else is fine
Boneless adaptation
Amazing recipe. Used a lobster stock that had been in our deep freezer for 19 months. Stellar. Everyone raved about it. Paired with a white wine from Northern Rhône. One of the best dishes we’ve ever cooked.
Tomas Y.
A little extra saffron makes a huge difference, and aquavit makes a great pastis substitute!
John Gallagher
It's a great recipe. But I think less seafood would be good. Just so that finding a lovely bit of lobster/fish/scallop is a bonus to an already delicious soup/stew.
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