How To Make Slavonski Fiš Paprikaš (Slavonian Freshwater Fish Stew)

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Post author Vedran

Written by our local expert Vedran

Vedran is a total food lover from Croatia. He creates recipes from his kitchen in Zagreb using fresh produce from his garden.

Similar to the čobanac, fiš is another dish traditionally prepared in a kettle over an open fire. Fiš, just like čobanac, contains high amounts of powdered paprika, both sweet and hot.

The best fiš is prepared with at least two different sorts of freshwater fish such as carp, luce, perch, or catfish. Usually, it is served with homemade pasta such as wide noodles.

Croatian Cooking_Fis Recipe_Freshwater Fish Stew

 

Another characteristic of čobanac is that intense red color that comes from paprika and its spiced flavor.

In Slavonia, freshwater fish is very much a common dish found on family tables. Many people also like to prepare it baked in the oven with potatoes and served with a crispy salad or even fried in deep oil with a bean salad.

There is one lovely quote (for every foodie to learn) that says: “Fish swims three times: in the water, in the kettle, and again in wine.” 

Fiš paprikaš with wine

Fiš paprikaš with wine

Slavonski Fiš Paprikaš Recipe (Slavonian Freshwater Fish Stew)

Similar to the čobanac, fiš paprikaš is another dish traditionally prepared in a kettle over an open fire. Here is how you can make Croatian fiš paprikaš at home. It also includes a bonus handmade pasta recipe!

Ingredients

Fiš Paprikaš

  • 1 kg freshwater fish (2.2lbs)
  • 1.5 L water (6.5 cups)
  • 200 ml white wine (1 cup)
  • 500 g onion (4 cups)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
  • 1/3 tablespoon hot paprika powder (more if you like it spicy)
  • 1 teaspoon. salt
  • 4-5 peppercorns

Wide Noodles (Optional)

  • 250 g all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)
  • 1 egg
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

Fiš Paprikaš

  1. If you are using freshly caught fish, start with cleaning it. Remove the fish scales and remove all the fish's insides. Cut the fish into big chunks, around 3 cm thick
  2. In a cooking pot, saute the chopped onions in the vegetable oil until they start to become golden. Add pressed garlic, salt, powdered paprika, and peppercorns. Pour in some water over everything and continue to cook until it comes to the boil
  3. Mash everything a little in the pot - this is required so it thickens the fiš in the later stages
  4. Add the remaining water and let it boil
  5. After around ten minutes add the fish and the white wine and continue to cook everything for around 25 to 30 minutes on medium heat. Don’t cook it more than this amount of time as the fish will start to fall apart. Also, do not mix everything with a spoon, but rather shake the pot a little bit if needed, this will help to keep the fish pieces from flaking apart
  6. Taste the soup before finishing and add in additional salt if required
  7. Serve while hot with some wide noodles and and a glass fine white wine

Wide Noodles

  1. Mix together the egg and the flour and slowly add the water until you get a hard and non-sticky dough
  2. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth. Dust the working surface and stretch out the dough to 2-3mm thin
  3. Cut the noodles around 0.5 to 1 cm wide and 5-10 cm long (I use a pizza cutter)
  4. Cook the pasta separately or inside the fish for 3-5 minutes
  5. If cooking in the same pot as fiš, add around 800ml more water to the pot

Tasty Croatian Recipes & Cooking Tips

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