Recipe for meunière-fried fish (fried dab)
Delicious whole grilled megrim.
The fish is prepared (head removed, cleaned, and skinned – ask your fishmonger to do it for you if it hasn’t been done).
I was lucky enough to learn how to fillet from a chef, and in the process, he shared his best tips for how to cook different fish. This whole megrim (it could also have been a plaice) should be cooked using a technique called: “meunière style.” It comes from the French word “meunière,” which means: “as the miller’s wife does.” It is believed that this stems from the miller’s wives always having flour on their hands, which stuck to the fish before it was fried in plenty of butter and freshened up with a splash of lemon juice.
Many believe (including the chef I visited) that this is the only right way to cook especially flatfish, so it had to be done.
Meunière-fried fish (fried dab)
Equipment
- Bowl
- Frying Pan
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 1 pcs. Shearing
- Coarse salt for gourmet salting
- Wheat Flour
- Butter for frying
- Lemon Juice
Instructions
- I often find I have issues getting the salt flavor into my fish, especially when breading. Unless I gourmet salt the fish first (which I always do).
- Take the fish out of the refrigerator about 10 minutes before preparation. Sprinkle coarse salt on both sides and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Rinse the salt off the fish under cold water, directly under the tap.
- Pat the fish dry on both sides, either with a clean tea towel or paper towel.
- Put the wheat flour on a large plate and dredge the fish in the flour to coat both sides.
- Melt plenty of butter in the pan, and when it foams, add the fish. Make sure to place the fish in the pan away from you, so it doesn't splash on you.
- Fry the fish for about 3 minutes on each side.
- Remove the fish from the pan and place it on a cutting board. Let it rest for 1-2 minutes before serving.
- Add lemon juice and bon appétit.