A thick, creamy, comforting chowder, using oak-smoked snoek from my local Hout Bay harbour. Use a floury potato, which will help thicken up the soup, and be sure to remove all the bones from the snoek.
Serves 6
You’ll need:
- 300 g oak-smoked snoek
- 3 medium leeks, white parts only
- 45 ml butter
- A small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 60 ml flour
- 1 litre milk
- 500 ml water (or fish stock)
- 45 ml white wine
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- Salt and freshly milled black pepper
- 350 g peeled raw potato, cut into 1 cm-square cubes
- A pinch of white pepper
To serve:
- Juice of half a lemon
- 60 ml fresh parsley, finely chopped
Pull the skin off the snoek and remove all the bones. Flake the fish and set aside. Wash and finely slice leeks. Heat the butter in a large pan, add the leeks and cook over a moderate heat for three or four minutes, or until softened but not browned. Stir in the garlic and flour. Cook, stirring well, for three minutes.
Mix the milk, water and wine in a jug and pour this into the pan, stirring briskly to break up any lumps. Add the thyme sprigs and a third (100 g) of the flaked snoek. Season well with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. Tip potato cubes into the soup, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potato cubes are cooked through, but not falling apart. Add the remaining smoked snoek and heat through for a further five minutes. If the soup seems a little thick, thin it down with more milk or water. Season with a pinch of white pepper and more salt if necessary. Remove the thyme sprigs.
Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and fresh parsley.
