I’m happy to report I have learned something. Maybe this isn’t groundbreaking to some as it is to others, but this inquiry project made me realize something about soup that I didn’t really consider beforehand. It’s about broth.

The most common ingredient in soups is broth, and I never really considered that of course you need a liquid base. Another point I came to realize as I purchased ingredients for each soup was the broth often ended up being the most expensive ingredient outside of a potential protein. This led me to a bit of an “aha” moment: surely I can make my own broth, right?

I did a bit of research on different broths and what it took to make broths. Outside of learning that there are different types of broth, like chicken, bone, beef, and fish stock, I learned broth is relatively easy to make but it requires TIME. To successfully create a broth, it would take some planning and recipe that sound enhance the soup. I mean if I’m going to make my own broth, it better be for an excellent soup, right? So here we are, about to make a broth and I decide to tackle a fish stock since I’m fortunate enough to live right down the road from a fish market. I found this great (and easy) recipe from Italian Spoon and got to work on my first ever homemade broth.

Turns out they just give away pounds of fish bones and head at the fish market! I was pretty excited about this. I let this simmer for just shy of two hours before cooking my soup (see next post), but it honestly was pretty easy and cheap to make, just took time. I ended up having so much that I froze about half of this batch to save for the next time I cook a seafood soup.