How to Cook Lemon Sole

What is Lemon Sole?

Lemon sole is a particularly delicate species of fish, both in texture and in flavour. It is therefore extremely important that you take both these factors in to account when deciding how you are going to prepare it. It is particularly important to note that lemon sole is also presently rated a moderately sustainable species of fish by official agencies. The recipes on this page take account of the two most common ways in which you are likely to purchase lemon sole: whole and on the bone or skinned and filleted. The cooking methods are necessarily very different but the lemon sole is equally delicious whichever particular cut you choose to buy and cook.

Pan Fried Lemon Sole a la Meuniere with Crushed New Potatoes

Tips for Frying Whole Lemon Sole

This lemon sole was bought on the bone. It had been gutted and the head and tail removed but the fins remained intact. It is not essential to remove them prior to cooking but in this instance they were firstly cut off with kitchen scissors. This simply makes for better plate presentation.

Cook Time

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ready in: 40 min
Yields: One serving
Ingredients

1 prepared lemon sole
6 to 8 new potatoes, whole, skin on
1 spring onion, sliced in to discs
3oz unsalted butter
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and white pepper
2 tsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp frozen peas
Flour for dusting
Lemon wedge to garnish

How to Pan Fry a Whole Lemon Sole

Put the potatoes in to a pot of cold, salted water. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer for twenty-five minutes or until soft.
Melt two ounces of the butter in a small non-stick frying pan. Spread some flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Pat the sole in the flour on both sides and shake off excess.
Lay the lemon sole in the pan, top (brown) side down and fry gently for four minutes. Carefully turn with a fish slice or spatula and fry for four further minutes on the underside.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the empty pot. Add the remaining butter, season with salt and pepper and crush lightly with the back of a fork. Stir in the spring onion.
Add the frozen peas to a pot of boiling water to cook for three minutes.
Remove the lemon sole from the pan and plate. Add the lemon juice and parsley to the pan and cook on a high heat for one minute.
Plate the crushed potatoes and drained peas alongside the fish. Spoon the sauce over the fish, garnish with the lemon wedge and serve.

The Big Fish Fight and Sustainable Fish

Do you care about the future of our fishing stocks and the variety of species which are in such frightening decline in numbers in our seas and oceans, around the world? The page linked to below the image on the right allows you to join the sustainability campaign, "The Big Fish Fight," and affords lots of tasty recipes - such as the one pictured - for fish which are not presently endangered.

Gordon Ramsay Cooks Lemon Sole en Pappillote

The book pictured to the right is not just any sustainable fish recipe book. It covers fish from around the world, helping you to choose sustainable fish in your locale and suggesting incredibly tasty ways in which they can be cooked. If you love fish and care about their future availability, this book will guide you to a culinary, piscatorial heaven.

How to Deep Fry Lemon Sole in Batter

This recipe for lemon sole fillets is simplicity itself. A simple batter is made with flour, cold water and a little salt. It should be the consistency of thick paint. The lemon sole fillets are dipped in the batter, held up for a few seconds that the excess may drip off and deep fried in hot oil for three to four minutes until the batter is crisp and golden. They are drained on kitchen paper and served on a bed of lettuce, accompanied by some homemade chips.