Sole Meunière
A whole sole cooked in foaming butter until deep golden, finished with lemon and parsley. The flesh pulls cleanly from the bone and the beurre blanc on the side is silky, and rich. One of the great classic dishes of French cuisine!
Ingredients
For the sole
- 2 dover sole whole, skinned and trimmed
- 50 gr plain flour
- 80 gr unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 handful flat-leaf parsley
- salt and white pepper
- 1 lemon cut into wedges, to serve
Instructions
1. Prepare the sole
- Pat the sole thoroughly dry on both sides with kitchen paper. Season generously with salt and pepper. Just before cooking, put the flour on a large plate, press each sole into it on both sides, then shake off every trace of excess. You want the thinnest possible coating, not a crust.
2. Fry the sole
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add about half the butter and let it foam. When the foam subsides and the butter turns light golden, lay the sole in carefully, presentation side down. Cook without moving for 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden underneath. Slide a wide spatula under and turn. Cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes, basting regularly with the pan butter, until the flesh is firm and lifts cleanly from the bone at the thickest point near the head. Transfer to warm plates.
3. Make the beurre noisette
- Add the remaining butter over medium heat. Let it foam and then cook on until the milk solids turn brown and it smells of hazelnuts, about a minute. Watch it closely, it goes from nutty to burnt fast.
4. Finish and serve
- Take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice (it'll splutter) and the chopped parsley. Swirl once and pour straight over the fish. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
Notes
- Ask the fishmonger to skin and trim the sole. Most will do it without a second thought, and it saves you a fiddly 10 minutes at home.
- Flour the fish at the last possible moment. If it sits more than a few minutes, the flour draws moisture and the coating goes claggy rather than crisp.
- Watch the beurre noisette (brown butter) closely. The gap between nutty brown and burnt is about ten seconds. The moment it smells of hazelnuts and turns amber, add the lemon to stop it cooking.
- Don't crowd the pan. If it won't hold both fish flat, cook them one at a time. A crowded pan drops the temperature and you lose the colour.
- This dish does not wait. Have everything ready before the fish goes in, and serve straight away.