Best French Method for Cooking Fish
How do the French cook fish? What do they do that makes it taste so good? Here are two French recipes for cooking fish. One is a classic French fish recipe (“meunière”), and the other is a variation on that theme. Enjoy!
Here's my 20-minute French recipe for sauteed fish. Any beautiful filet will do, though I prefer cod, halibut, grouper, or flounder. Capers are optional!
Did you see the movie Julie and Julia? Do you remember the beautiful moment where Julia Child (Meryl Streep), just off the boat, rhapsodized about the unforgettable fish dish she had for her first lunch—ever—in France?
That dish was sole meunière, and it's easier to make than you might think. It's the classic French method for cooking fish.
Meunière is French for “the miller's wife.” As culinary legend has it, she was the lady with access to plenty of fish from the stream that powered her husband's mill, and of course, she had plenty of flour for dredging it in, too.
I’ll show you how to make this exquisite dish—plus a variation.
The Best French Method for Cooking Fish
French-Style Sautéed Fish (aka Poisson Meunière/Fish in the Style of the Miller’s Wife)
Prep time: 20 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 4
This classic fish meunière, a French method for cooking fish, works for just about any fish you can find. And yes—while white varieties of fish are classic, you can most certainly use salmon to fish meunière. I do it all the time and it’s wonderful. This recipe, by the way, is one of many easy French recipes you’ll find in my book: Everyday French Cooking: Modern French Cuisine Made Simple.
4 (6- to 8-ounce) skinless white fish fillets, such as haddock, halibut, grouper, sole, flounder, or cod (1/2 inch thick)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup capers (optional)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley, chives, or chervil, or a combination
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Season both sides of each fish fillet with salt and pepper. Dredge the fillet in the flour to lightly coat, shaking off the excess. Repeat with the remaining fillets.
Using a skillet that’s large enough to accommodate the fillets in one layer, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add fillets and cook, turning once, until fish is golden- brown on both sides and flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes (reduce the heat to medium if fish browns too quickly). Transfer fish to four serving plates.
Drain off any fat from the skillet and—taking care not to burn your fingers—wipe out the pan with paper towels. Add the butter and melt it over medium heat until nut-brown and frothy. Remove the pan from the heat and add capers; swirl pan just to heat the capers through a bit..
Scatter the herbs over the fish fillets, sprinkle with lemon juice, and pour the browned butter (with or without capers) on top. Serve immediately.
The classic French recipe for fish—this photo without capers: Meuniere. So easy, and yet, the best way to cook fish ever. Sole is pictured, but just about any fish will do.
Another Classic French Way to Cook Fish
OK! Now that you've mastered the classic French way to cook fish, why not try one of my favorite variations on this theme? It only takes a handful more ingredients and about two minutes more of your time...but results in something extra.
I make this beautiful recipe with trout (it's how I first enjoyed it somewhere in a little inn somewhere in the French Pyrénées), but honestly, cross my heart, you can make it with just about any good fish fillet. Simply adjust cooking time—a minute or two longer— for thicker pieces.
Another Great French Method for Cooking Fish:
Another great French method for cooking fish: My Fish Meunière with Celery, Pistachios, and Garlic Cloves.
Fish Meunière with Celery, Pistachios,
and Garlic Cloves
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients
2 8-ounce boned, pan-dressed trout (heads removed; tails removed if desired)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup celery rib, very thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and cut into thin lengthwise slices
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons pistachio kernels, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
1. Rinse trout and pat dry. Spread each trout open into fillets; season both sides with salt and pepper. Pour the milk into one shallow bowl and place the flour in another. Dip a fillet in the milk, letting the excess drip off. Dredge the fillet in the flour to lightly coat, shaking off the excess. Repeat with the remaining fillet.
2. In a large skillet (at least 12 inches in diameter), heat the vegetable oil. Add the two trout, skin side up, and cook over medium to medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until fish is golden and flakes easily with a fork, turning trout once. Transfer to a warm platter; keep warm.
3. Carefully wipe out pan with paper towels. Add 2 tablespoons butter and heat over medium heat. Add celery and garlic; sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until celery is tender and garlic is golden-brown. Add parsley and cook briefly. Add pistachios and, if you like, red pepper flakes. To serve, spoon this mixture over trout.
Why You Need a Fish Spatula
A fish spatula. Essential for everything from cooking fish to lifting thin cookies off of a cookie sheet.
What? You're cooking fish without a bonafide fish spatula? It's an essential tool in my kitchen, and not just for fish. Flip burgers, pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches; lift cookies off the sheet—seriously, once you have this great little utensil, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
And if you buy one through one of my Amazon affiliate links, you'll help support this site without adding to your costs whatsoever. Thanks for your consideration!
