Hairy Bikers Cullen Skink Recipe

This Hairy Bikers cullen skink simmers smoked haddock in a wine, leek and fennel stock, then adds potatoes and double cream. And their BBC Food recipe serves 4 in 1 hour 30 minutes, with my own count at about 1,150 calories a bowl.

Writing in One Pot Wonders, the pair look back on cullen skink as “a frugal dish” they “cooked a long while back”. But this BBC version is anything but frugal, with half a litre of double cream stirred in at the end.

The short blitz at the end matters most for me, since “briefly” is the only guide given for it. So I pulse the stick blender a few times, until the potato thickens the cream while some haddock and leek stay whole.

Hairy Bikers Cullen Skink Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Scottish Courses:Lunch

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time:1 hour Rest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 30 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:1150 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Smoky fish poaches with fennel, onion and wine to make the base, then gets flaked and returned with potato and soft leeks. And cream goes in last, before parsley and a grating of nutmeg finish each bowl.

Ingredients

For the stock

• 75g butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 leeks, roughly chopped
• 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 fennel bulbs, roughly chopped
• 250ml white wine
• 500g smoked haddock
• 750ml water

For the soup

• 75g butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 leeks, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 300g potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 500ml double cream
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• crusty bread, to serve

Instructions

1. Soften the stock veg: Heat the stock butter and oil in a large pan, then gently fry the leeks, onions and fennel for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Poach the haddock: Pour in the wine and bring it to the boil, then add the smoked haddock and the water. Bring back to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any scum, until the haddock is cooked through.
3. Strain and flake: Lift out the haddock, then strain the stock into a jug and keep it, throwing away the vegetables, which is my reading of the method. Then flake the fish into bite-sized pieces, removing any skin or bones.
4. Start the soup: Heat the soup butter and oil in the cleaned pan, then fry the leeks, shallots and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened.
5. Simmer the potatoes: Add the potatoes and the flaked haddock, then pour in the reserved stock and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
6. Finish and serve: Stir in the cream, then blend the soup briefly with a stick blender, which for me means just a few pulses. Taste for salt, then serve with crusty bread, scattered with parsley and a little grated nutmeg.

FAQs

Is this a traditional cullen skink?

Not quite, since the version from Cullen, a fishing town on the Moray coast, is traditionally just smoked haddock, potato and onion in milk. So theirs sits at the richer end, much closer to a chowder.

And that chowder exists too, because their smoked haddock chowder with sweetcorn in One Pot Wonders grew out of cullen skink. And it uses milk and only 100ml of cream, with tarragon and white fish alongside the haddock.

Why does the haddock simmer for 30 minutes?

My reading is that the long simmer gives the stock its smoky depth, because the fish flavours the wine and water as it cooks. So the haddock does two jobs, flavouring the base and then going back in as flakes.

It does break up small after that long. So for bigger flakes, I lift the fish out after about 10 minutes, once it’s cooked through. And the vegetables carry on for the full 30, which is my tweak, not theirs.

Can I make it lighter, with milk instead of cream?

Most of the richness comes from 500ml of cream and 150g of butter in total, nearly three quarters of the calories. So swapping the cream for whole milk cuts roughly 480 calories a bowl, though the soup turns thinner and less silky.

If you do use milk, keep it at a gentle heat rather than a boil, because milk can split. And on a lighter day, I serve it in smaller bowls with the bread, so four portions stretch to six.

Which smoked haddock should I buy?

I buy undyed fillets, since the bright yellow in dyed fish comes from colouring, and the soup stays a natural ivory. And skinless fillets save a job, because otherwise you peel the skin off the hot poached fish.

Then any extra smoked haddock from the pack goes well in their kedgeree with smoked haddock, which is made with undyed fish too.

Can I make it ahead for Burns Night?

Cool it quickly and it keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days, then reheat it once until steaming hot all the way through. But I wouldn’t freeze the finished soup, since cream and potato often turn grainy, so I freeze the strained stock instead.

On the night, it makes a warming starter before the haggis. Then their lighter raspberry cranachan is the pudding I’d put after it.