Simon Gault Home Cuisine - Fish Stock product reviews

I was really intrigued to try this stock as I am a regular user of both beef and chicken stocks but never had I cooked anything that required a fish stock base. After some internet searching and checking recipes books at home, I noticed a fish chowder recipe on the Countdown recipe stand at the supermarket.

Firstly, let me say that I love most sorts of seafood, but unfortunately I'm not keen on either mussels or seafood plastic-type marinara mix so fish chowder really appealed. I bought Hoki on special and luckily all other ingredients required for the chowder were in my pantry. When I opened the fish stock pouch, I keenly smelled the stock and I really thought it smelt pretty bad, but after mixing with boiling water and simmering off with the chowder vegetables, the cooking smells become quite mouth watering, so much so I had trouble keeping the kids away from the enticing smells coming from the kitchen.

The finished product was really yummy and I believe the stock gave it a nice authentic taste. I was immediately asked by the family to make it again, and luckily the stock makes 8 cups when mixed with hot water, so I don't think that will be a problem. I was worried that the stock had to be used within three weeks of opening, so I decided that I would freeze the rest of the stock in ice cube trays and then I bagged up after they were frozen, which will be most useful for me as it's not often we have fresh fish in the house, and of course this gives me more time to research more recipes to use it with!

This is the second product of Simon Gault's stock and seasoning range I have tried and reviewed and I really do rate their taste, portion sizes and cost.

Nothing beats going to a restaurant and ordering Seafood Chowder. The creamy seafood sauce is to die for. So when I saw the oportunity to make this in my own house I jumped at the oportunity. To be honest I have never cooked it before but I knew that it would use Fish Stock so had one of the ingredients at least. Actually when I researched recipes I was happy to see that we had everything I needed besides the seafood, so a quick dash to the supermarket and I was ready.

I never realised potato and bacon where ingredients of seafood chowder but after quickly chopping some up with onions I was well on my way. The stock was really easy to prepare. Boil two cups of water and add about 25ml of the stock and let it dissolve. It reminded me a lot of beef stock the same colour but the smell was definitely fishie. It was not as strong as I was guessing it would be so added an extra squirt just to be sure.

Within twenty minutes I had one of the best chowders I have ever experienced. The whole family enjoyed it. The plan had been that this was also going to be for tomorrow nights dinner but unfortunately if I am lucky there might be enough for my lunch tomorrow. Everyone kept going back for more. It was more fishier than I thought it would be but it was so enjoyable.

I liked the fact it says there are no MSH or Preservatives added and that it is 99% fat free. It does say you need to refrigerate up to three weeks so it looks like more seafood chowder will be on the menu. I love the extra taste it gave and I am glad I gave it that extra squirt. A definite winner.

I love fish but as my husband doesn't so I very rarely get to cook with fish. I have never used fish stock before and most of my experience with stock has been the powdered or cubed variety. When I saw that Simon Gault's fish stock was available for review I decided I needed to try it. "Real cooks use real stock" so I've seen another brand say on their TV ad.

I searched my favourite recipe app for ideas to use the fish stock in and came across a salmon and corn chowder. It used just tinned salmon, creamed corn, kumara and fish stock, all of which I had in the pantry. I will admit when I dissolved the stock in the boiling water as directed on the pouch it stunk. My husband and kids made some rather rude comments about it. To be honest I didn't think I would like the chowder if this was going into it. The stock concentrate dissolved quite easily into the water. There wasn't any sediment when I poured it into the soup pot.

As the other ingredients were added to the pot and the chowder simmered away it smelt much more appealing to me. I was actually tempted to have a bowl before I put it through the blender but thought for review purposes I had better follow the recipe. I am pleased I did as this gave the chowder a chance to cool down enough for me to enjoy. Believe me it was delicious and I am glad I have a heartwarming lunch sorted for the week.

Thank you KIWIreviews for introducing me to the Simon Gault range of stocks. This is the second one I had tried and I've enjoyed both the lamb and fish varieties. I will be trying some of the others and buying these again.

I love Simon Gault's products, but had not had a chance to try out his fish stock so it was great when I was offered this product to review. Although I am a convert to liquid stocks and rarely use powder these days, I have not used fish stock before.

It was good timing as I had been sent a fish chowder recipe from my mum and I substituted this stock for the powder stated in the recipe. As my chowder had 2 cups of water, I used the 25mls of stock recommended on the stock packet. However after it had simmered for a bit, I had a taste test and decided to squirt in a bit more stock to give it a flavour boost - that's the beauty about this stock - I can add flavour without adding more liquid. I suspect it needed the extra as doing the soup in the crockpot meant it was creating more liquid as it cooked. And the chowder was really really delicious!

Now that I've opened the stock packet, they can normally be kept up to 3 months in the fridge. However I heard that you can pop them in the freezer to keep them much longer and as I don't use fish stock much, I decided this was a better option. They apparently will still say squeezable even after being frozen so it's a great way to store them.

This stock is convenient and easy to use, although from using other stocks of his, I notice it can be hard getting the last bit out of the packet, although cutting the packet open with scissors helps. The packet makes 8 cups (unless you decide to use a higher concentration) which means that it is very comparable to other liquid stock brands and it has way way more flavour. I'm a convert!

The idea of fish stock is quite new to me and I have never used it previously in cooking. I did't really know what to expect when I opened the pouch. I had gone onto Simon Gault's website and got some ideas about how to use the fish stock concentrate. The mussel chowder caught my eye. I looked through the recipe and decided that I liked the idea but I am not so into indian flavours. I was really hooked on the idea of a chowder and found an appropriate recipe for my family on the internet. I moved from wondering how appetising fish stock might be, to being very excited about trying it out.

When I opened the pouch, it reminded me of fish sauce but a much thicker version. It was quite different to what my mind had dreamed up! My husband has fond memories of fish stock that his mother used to make and the smell and texture of condensed version in the pouch reminded him of what his mum used to make. That is a good start - something that is similar to products made at home, being available in the shops.

The best before date quite short as it free of preservatives. This is a positive in my book as I prefer food to be as real as possible, however something just to watch out for. The product only needs to be refrigerated after it has been opened and will last for up to 3 weeks. This wasn't too much of a problem as the seafood chowder recipe that I used required three quarters of it. I will now find a way to add the remaining stock into a another family meal. The other option could be to freeze it in ice cube trays for later use if I don't think I will use it up within the 3 week period.

The Simon Gault name and branding is one that I have heard of a lot and I think that it is well known in most Kiwi homes. I haven't used any of his products previously, but I feel that I would trust it.

The ingredients in the fish stock are quite simple, with recognisable items in the list. I like the fact that there is not a long list of rubbish in the ingredients - it is real food. It was really easy to us the correct amount of stock for a recipe and the lid could be put on to reseal the remaining stock for use later on.

This was a new experience for me and I am so glad that I tried this product. I believe that I will be buying this stock again and I think that seafood chowder will be served at our table again!