A simple recipe for Cullen Skink

My dad hails from Buckie on the Moray coast, and he has always been passionate about seafood. Some of my earliest memories are of him catching lobsters from the shore, using a long metal hook called a cleek.

Though many offer Cullen Skink as a starter, with a few slices of buttered bread, this soup is filling enough to be the main meal!

Given that Buckie is located only 6 miles from Cullen, my dad is also an expert at making Cullen Skink, and he passed on this recipe to me. I’ve seen other Cullen Skink soup recipes that involve cream and leeks and more, but I believe the key to making great Cullen Skink is to only use a few simple ingredients!

Ingredients

2 smoked haddock fillets
2 haddock fillets
1 onion
6 to 8 small potatoes
1 pint of milk
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper

*Fish and Onions in a pan photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon*

Method

Chop the onions into chunks, put the fish and onions into a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

*Boiling the fish and onions photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon*

Using a slotted spoon, remove the fish and onions from the liquid and place in a dish. Don’t pour away any of the fishy liquid stock!

*Boiling the tatties in the fishy water photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon*

Chop the potatoes into chunks (about 2cm) and add to the liquid in the pan. Boil the potatoes in the liquid stock.

*Adding the fish and onions in with the tatties photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon*

When potatoes are cooked, add the fish and onion.
Tip – boil the potatoes gently and make sure you don’t overboil them as they will just disintegrate in the soup – it’s good to have some lovely chunks of tattie!

*Milk and a big knob of butter added photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon*

Pour in the milk, add a good knob of butter, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Do not boil – bring the soup to serving temperature and serve.

Cullen Skink - the finished product! — Cullen Skink – the finished product! photo © Copyright Victoria Dixon

Though many offer Cullen Skink as a starter, with a few slices of buttered bread, this soup is filling enough to be the main meal!

You can keep the leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days (if there are any – that doesn’t happen often in our house!)

Cullen Skink is often better the day after preparation as it has time to develop more depth to its flavour.

By Victoria Dixon
Orkney and Shetland fanatic, likes to capture life through a lens, loves creating, eclectic taste in music, enjoys being a Mum; would secretly love to be a star of the West End!

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