Many gourmets appreciate flounder - from this sea fish you can cook many delicious dishes. But also it can be hopelessly spoiled by incorrectly completing one of the cooking steps.
Therefore, to know how to fry flounder, you need every self-respecting chef.
The benefits and harms of flounder
Before you learn about the different ways of cooking this gourmet fish, it is worth knowing what positive and negative aspects its eating will have.
Let's start with the positive. Due to the fact that the composition includes many vitamins and minerals, it is worth adding flounder to the diet for people suffering from:
- chronic fatigue;
- autoimmune diseases;
- anemia
- hypothyroidism;
- chronic gastritis;
- cardiovascular disease.
According to experts, this fish also improves brain function, strengthens teeth and bones and, in addition, even out skin color. Finally, the dishes from it have a great taste and look great - they are not ashamed to serve on the festive table. Looking at the photos attached to our recipes (how to fry flounder, you will learn below), you will see for yourself.
But any product has two sides. And sea fish is no exception. Therefore, it is worth limiting or completely abandoning its use for such health problems:
- kidney and liver disease;
- protein intolerance;
- intolerance to seafood;
- hyperthyroidism.
Having dealt with the issue of harm and benefit, we proceed directly to cooking. More precisely, to the description of preparation for it.
Cleaning and cutting
Before you learn how to fry flounder, you need to learn how to carve it. All the work of an experienced chef takes a matter of minutes - there are really few problems here. For example, it is not necessary to clean the flounder at all: it is devoid of scales, which greatly facilitates the cooking process. So proceed:
- Cut off the fish head. To do this, it is necessary to turn it with its back (dark side) down - it will be more convenient to work.
- Carefully remove the insides - the volume of the abdominal cavity in this fish is surprisingly small.
- Rinse thoroughly with water.
- With a sharp knife, cut the fins and tail, cut the spikes so that they do not spoil the pleasure of eating the dish.
- Gently pry the skin and pull it off, carefully helping with a knife.
That's all. Now you can fry the fish as a whole, and by separating the fillet from the bones, the benefit of the latter is very small in flounder.
How to get rid of bad smell?
Many people like seafood. It is no coincidence that they want to learn how to fish such as flounder, fry - the recipe tells about all the subtleties. Alas, all the pleasure from the process of cooking and eating can be spoiled by one minus - a pungent, unpleasant smell.
Fortunately, this shortcoming can be eliminated. There are several simple but effective ways.
The simplest is to pour cleaned and chopped fish with a weak solution of vinegar (one teaspoon per 0.5 liters of cold water). It’s enough to hold the flounder in such a “marinade” for a couple of hours, and you will not feel the slightest smell.
In addition, the source of the characteristic "flavor" is precisely the dark skin. Removing it, you can dramatically reduce the intensity of the smell, and when cooking, it will almost not be noticeable.
Finally, if you are interested in how to fry flounder in a pan, you can recommend adding a little finely chopped onion or parsley root to the fish. This will not only make the finished dish more sophisticated, but also completely discourage the smell.
Cook in a pan
In most cases, people are interested in how to fry flounder in a pan, this is the simplest, but at the same time very refined recipe. It is nice that in this case no rare ingredients are needed - only the fish and flour itself. However, for a more refined taste, you can add a pinch of thyme and juice from half a lemon.
First, prepare the flounder in the manner described above: remove the head and entrails, hold in a solution of vinegar. After that, you can start cooking:
- Cut large flounder into small pieces. On shallow, make not too deep transverse incisions on the back and belly. Salt, rubbing salt with neat, but sure movements.
- Thoroughly roll the fish in the flour - the thicker the layer, the more juicy the dish will turn out.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan and place the flounder.
- As soon as it turns golden on one side, flip it over to the other. When it is fried, you can remove it and immediately, until it has cooled, serve it to the table.
Novice cooks often ask how much to fry flounder in a pan. The answer here is simple - each side is fried for 5-7 minutes.
Bake in the oven
This recipe is a little more complicated. But the result will be simply breathtaking - any foodie will appreciate your culinary abilities. Stock up on the following ingredients:
- 2 flounders;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 200 grams of cheese;
- 100 g mayonnaise;
- 1 lemon
- greens, salt, spices.
Flounder is prepared as follows:
- Cut fish is salted and rubbed with spices.
- Juice is squeezed out of the lemon, with which the carcass is poured. After that, let it brew for 20-40 minutes.
- Grease the flounder with mayonnaise, lay on top thinly sliced tomatoes and lemon slices, and cover them with grated cheese. Sprinkle with chopped dill.
- Cover the baking sheet with foil. Lubricate it with vegetable oil. Place the fish on the foil, wrap the edges and put in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees.
- After 30 minutes, remove the fish.
Some cooks, 5-7 minutes before the end of cooking, unfold the foil and return the pan to the oven. In this case, the flounder will turn out not so juicy, but it will acquire a very appetizing crispy crust, which all connoisseurs love.
You can serve fish to the table.
Stew in a slow cooker
Cooking in a slow cooker is almost as simple as frying flounder in a pan - even a novice cook will master the recipe. Need products:
- 600 grams of flounder fillet;
- 1 onion;
- 150 ml cream;
- 150 ml of vegetable broth;
- 1 lemon
- a bunch of parsley;
- vegetable oil, salt, pepper.
It is prepared in several stages:
- Cut the onion into rings, fry in a slow cooker in vegetable oil in the "Baking" mode.
- Cut the fillet into small pieces, salt and pepper, put in a multicooker bowl. Pour in vegetable broth and cream.
- Select the "Steam cooking" mode and set the timer for 25-30 minutes.
- Put the finished fish on a dish, sprinkle with chopped herbs and garnish with thin slices of lemon.
Cooking Korean Style Flounder
A very simple and specific recipe that will disappoint some gourmets and fall in love with others for life. So they prepare the flounder in Korea. The plus is the simplicity of the ingredients. You only need:
- 500 grams of flounder;
- 500 grams of onion;
- vegetable oil, soy sauce, black pepper.
Now you can begin to master a new, very unusual recipe:
- At the bottom of the pan (preferably cast iron) pour a little vegetable oil and heat it.
- Put the flounder - without a head, peeled, but not cut.
- Add soy sauce and pepper.
- Cover with chopped onion. It is advisable to cut not with the usual half rings, but, on the contrary, along the layers - in this case the bow will resemble feathers. It looks unusual - for an exotic dish exactly what you need.
- Cover and cook for 25 minutes.
The finished dish is served right with the onion - it will become a great garnish that has become thin and absorbed in the aroma of fish. Perhaps outwardly this does not look too attractive. But the taste is just great.
Which side dish to choose?
Now you know how to fry flounder. A recipe with a photo describes in detail different options. But you can’t serve seafood without a side dish, something should favorably set off its taste.
Of course, mashed potatoes will be an ideal side dish. But it also very well complements the fish marinated peas and steamed vegetables.
Some experts believe that fried tomatoes are the best side dish - thanks to their acidity, they perfectly set off the taste of flounder.
If you are willing to spend extra time cooking, try stewing carrots by adding a little tomato paste, as well as a few prune fruits. The resulting side dish will be sweet-sour - exactly what you need for oily fish. At the same time, the orange-reddish tint contrasts perfectly with the white color of the fried flounder, so that you will also get an aesthetic pleasure while admiring the freshly prepared dish.
But in many Asian countries it is believed that only rice is fully able to complement the taste of fish. It is difficult to argue with this - Asians have been practicing the preparation of flounder for many centuries and managed to achieve excellent results here. On the other hand, you need to cook rice skillfully so that it is white and crumbly, but at the same time soft, tender. A sticky porridge with a yellowish tint is unlikely to please guests if it is served as a side dish for flounder.
But it is precisely known which products should be discarded. Macaroni and buckwheat are very poorly combined with fried or baked fish. These are dry side dishes, which are preferably served with fatty meat cooked with a gourmet sauce.
Experiment yourself and you will surely find many exquisite options that will appeal to you and the whole family.
Conclusion
This concludes the article. Having learned several ways of making flounder - from classic to exotic, you can easily please your loved ones with truly delicious and delicious dishes. Bon appetit to you and your guests!