Scottish Recipe For Cullen Skink

Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.

Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5, 000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.

Cullen skink, one of Scotland's most famous dishes, is a hearty soup that is traditionally made with smoked haddock. The name of this soup comes from Cullen, a small town in the northeast of Scotland. Skink is the Scottish term for a knuckle, shin, or hough of beef, so most soups made of these parts were called skink. When people in northern Scotland were unable to find scraps of beef due to economic strains but had plenty of fish to cook with, and smoked haddock was found everywhere, meat stews transformed into fish-based soups, but the name skink stuck.

Cullen Skink With Oatcakes Recipe

In this version of the famous recipe, mashed potatoes add thickness and creaminess, while in other versions, the potatoes are added in chunks. The best potatoes for our skink would be waxier types rather than those traditionally used for mash.

This Cullen skink recipe is also known as smoked haddock chowder in other parts of Britain, and both dishes are very similar.​ This recipe is also a gluten-free dish as the only thickener used are potatoes.

The Cullen skink was amazing. Haddock is a fabulous flaky, mild, and tender fish, and the smokey notes of the finnan haddie (smoked haddock) give this soup its unique flavor. This is an incredibly easy dish that needs very little prep time. It was wonderful with a loaf of crusty artisan bread. —Diana Rattray

Traditional Scottish Cullen Skink

Yes, finnan haddie is smoked haddock. The name is thought to have originated in Findon, near Aberdeen in Scotland. Haddie is slang for haddock.

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2, 000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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Traditional Scottish Cullen Skink Soup

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Cullen Skink is a rich and creamy smoked haddock soup that borders on being a chowder, it’s packed full of flavour and can easily be eaten as a main meal as well as a starter. If you’re coming to Scotland, it is a must-try (see 50 Scottish foods to try here)!

But the method you use to bring together the main ingredients of potatoes, onions, and smoked haddock is what gives it a deliciously creamy and satisfying taste.

How To Make Cullen Skink

Cullen Skink is named after the town of Cullen in Moray, near Aberdeenshire. Sure, it might be easier to call it Scottish fish chowder, but then we miss out on the fun of asking visitors what exactly they think it is and hearing their varied responses!

Originally Cullen Skink was a type of beef broth made from the front legs of cattle, and the word skink was used to mean a shin or knuckle of beef.

Around the early 1890s, smoked haddock was in a much more plentiful supply than beef around the area of Cullen, as the village had become specialist in producing it, and so it was used to make a simple smoked fish soup instead.

Cullen Skink (scottish Smoked Fish Soup)

Move forward over a hundred years, and Cullen Skink is now found on menus across Scotland! Many places have their own take on the dish so it’s worth trying in different areas to see how it deliciously differs. It can be eaten as a starter or a main and is generally served with bread – be warned it’s very filling!

We took a trip to the Moray coast a couple of years ago but unfortunately, it was a Sunday when we visited Cullen and we were unable to find anywhere to serve us a Cullen Skink. Just another reason to return to this beautiful part of Scotland, however!

While we regularly make fish chowder at home we had never tried to make Cullen Skink before, thinking we would need some sort of specialist ingredients or method to do so.

Low Fodmap Cullen Skink Soup

However, we’re happy to say that when we began researching the process, we discovered that making your own Cullen Skink is actually really straightforward once you know what you’re doing.

The main ingredients are smoked haddock, potatoes and onions. You might have additional vegetables in a fish chowder and multiple types of fish or prawns in a seafood chowder.

You’ll need two pots/pans to make the Cullen Skink; ideally at least one should be non-stick so the milk doesn’t stick as easily.

Cullen Skink: Scottish Smoked Fish And Bacon Chowder

There are a few variations to how this Scottish soup is made, but you’ll find that the base is always smoked haddock, potatoes, and onion.

There are lots of different kinds of Smoked Haddock. Traditional recipes used the full fish which was then de-boned mid-cooking, but these days it’s much easier to use fillets.

Most recipes we looked into called for “undyed smoked haddock”. We weren’t able to source that at this time so just used the dyed kind we found in the supermarket fish section.

Traditional Scottish Cullen Skink Recipe

The only reason we can imagine they suggest undyed is so the soup doesn’t go as yellow, but it doesn’t make any difference to the taste.

The amount is usually what comes in the pre-packaged smoked haddock in the supermarket but there’s no problem using a bit more or less.

Ultimately use what you can manage to get! The only important thing is that it’s smoked as this is what helps to give the soup its flavour.

Cullen Skink Aka Smoked Haddock Chowder

If Smoked Haddock isn’t available where you live then you can try whatever you can get in terms of smoked white fish. Smoked Cod would be the next best thing. Smoked Mackerel has a stronger fish flavour but is possible.

We have fish stock cubes on hand in our pantry and sometimes I add them to our homemade Cullen Skink but other times I don’t.

If you’re making it quickly and eating immediately then it may not have as much flavour as if you leave it to reheat later.

Scotland's Cullen Skink Is The Comforting Dish You Need This Winter

I always taste when it’s ready to serve and then add a whole or even just part of a fish stock cube if I think it needs a little more depth to the flavour.

The full ingredients list and method is listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, this can also be printed, but here’s a breakdown of each step with a few more tips!

Ideally, you’ll want to have 2 pans on the stovetop at the same time. Try to use a non-stick pan for the haddock and milk so it doesn’t stick.

Cullen Skink (scottish Fish Soup)

Put the milk and smoked haddock skin-up (if there is any) into a cold pan and allow to sit. The milk should cover the whole fish. Don’t turn the heat on yet.

Heat your other pan and add the butter and onion and fry for around 5 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown. Add the potatoes for a minute before pouring in 300ml of boiling water. It should cover the potatoes and onions. Now cover and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat the milk and haddock gradually. You’ll want a low heat so the milk doesn’t burn and you’ll need to move the milk around every now and then to stop it from sticking to the bottom. It will take about 5 minutes or so for the milk to heat up and then you want to cook the fish for a further 5 minutes.

Scottish Cullen Skink Recipe For Burns Night

Remove the smoked haddock from the milk with a slotted spoon, turn the heat off and keep the milk to one side.

Allow the fish to cool slightly so you can remove any skin or bones and discard them. The skin should easily peel off the back of a fish with a little help from a knife if necessary.

Take a masher or fork and mash about a quarter of the potatoes in the pan roughly. You don’t want to mash too much and it doesn’t need to be perfect, this will just help to thicken up the soup.

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Add the milk to the pan of potatoes and onions and stir for a couple of minutes to combine. it’s important you bring them