Fish Stew, Trail Version
Freeze-dried white fish, potato flakes, and tomato powder. A Mediterranean stew rebuilt out of a bag.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 124
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Freeze-dried white fish | 2.5 oz | cod or sea bass; a foil pouch of tuna or salmon works too |
|---|---|---|
| Instant potato flakes | 1/3 cup | stands in for the diced potatoes |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | or 1 tbsp tomato paste from a tube |
| Dried onion flakes | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Fish or clam bouillon | 1 cube | chicken bouillon if you cannot find it |
| Dried dill | 1 tsp | |
| Kosher salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Red pepper flakes | a pinch | |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | dropper bottle |
| Citric acid or a lemon powder packet | 1/4 tsp | replaces the fresh lemon |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Drop in the bouillon, onion, garlic, tomato powder, dill, and red pepper. Stir until the cube dissolves.
- Add the freeze-dried fish. Cut the heat to a bare simmer and give it five minutes. Do not stir hard or the fish shreds.
- Kill the heat. Sprinkle the potato flakes in slowly, stirring, until the broth thickens to a stew rather than a soup.
- Lid on, five minutes off the stove. The fish finishes rehydrating in the residual heat.
- Pour in the oil, add the citric acid, then salt and pepper. Taste before adding more of either.
The original is a pressure-cooker dish built on white wine, clam juice, fresh potatoes, and lemon. None of that carries. Bouillon and tomato powder rebuild the broth, potato flakes do the thickening and the starch in one move, and citric acid gives back the acid that the wine and lemon were providing. The dill is the one thing worth carrying as-is; it is what makes this read as fish stew and not generic soup.
The fish goes in last and barely cooks, same as in the kitchen version. Freeze-dried fish rehydrates in about five minutes of low simmer and turns to mush past that, so pull the pot early and let the lid finish it. Add the potato flakes off the heat too, a little at a time. Dumped in all at once they seize into a lump you cannot stir out.
Packing
Everything dry except the fish and oil goes in one bag: bouillon, tomato powder, onion, garlic, dill, pepper flakes, citric acid. Potato flakes ride in a second bag so you can meter them in. Fish stays sealed in its own pouch.
Variations
- A foil pouch of tuna stirred in at the end skips the freeze-dried step and costs less.
- Two tablespoons of instant rice or couscous in place of the potato flakes if you want the broth thinner.
- Dried celery and carrot in the spice bag build the base out toward a chowder.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/instant-pot-fish-stew