I had a chat with the fishmonger in Ely on Saturday when I saw this. He said it was huss, until I gave him an inquisitive look. Then he said it was rock salmon. So I asked if he really meant spotted dogfish, and he smiled and said yes. Then he sold it to me good and cheap.
Huss is way too rare to eat. Its a beautiful little shark, and quite delicious but it gives birth to live young and doesn't breed fast at all. So don't eat it. Spotted dogfish are smaller and plentiful - and every bit as tasty. But it really does need to be very fresh - give it a sniff and make sure there's not the slightest whiff of anything resembling ammonia.
You've got a few bits of cartilage sticking in to the meat but really just the one bit to cut out down the middle - other than that its meaty and boneless.
I selected this because I had a pan of fish stock to use up, the remnants of a gurnard were in the pressure cooker, cooked in water at high pressure to make the stock sterile but still, it needed using up. Into the strained stock went spring onions, soy sauce, thai seven spice mix (inauthentic I know but trust me) lime juice and zest, rice wine, red chili and lots of grated ginger, a splash of rice vinegar, and that was boiled while I cut up the dogfish. I also put a pile of wild mushrooms into the soup because, well, its autumn and I've got a lot of mushrooms to use. While that was cooking I also put some noodles on to cook.
The fish (sliced thin) went into some beaten egg and into a hot pan. Once browned on both sides its basically done. The rest of the egg, I pitched into the soup and stirred in.
And then its simple - noodles go into a bowl, then the soup, and then some dogfish pieces on top, and you're done.
The principle of this kind of soup is really simple and you can make a whole family of dishes like it, either for a lunch or dinner. As long as you've got some decent stock, you've got the basis of a great soup. And with the nights drawing in, I do like something good and spicy like this.
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