Whole roasted flounder with curry leaf butter
“So few ingredients, but a completely stunning result. Curry leaves are worth seeking out if you have a good greengrocer nearby. Their nutty, popcornlike flavour works incredibly well in tandem with brown butter and fish.” - Danielle Alvarez
SERVES 2
1 x 800g whole flounder, or 2 x 400g whole flounder, cleaned
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
60g unsalted butter
4 stems curry leaf (each with about 12–14 leaves), leaves picked
1½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
flaked sea salt
Before you begin: Place your fish on a baking tray, white-belly-side up, and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking.
Brush the flounder with the olive oil and sprinkle it with salt.
Place a rack in the top-third of your oven and set your grill (broiler) to a high heat. Alternatively, if your oven doesn’t have a grill option, preheat your oven to as high as possible, about 230–250°C.
Place the fish under the grill (or in your oven) for 5 minutes then flip it and cook for a further 4 minutes on the dark-skin side. Bring the fish out of the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes on the tray. If using two small fish, cook them for 3 minutes each side.
While the fish cooks, heat a small saucepan over a high heat. Add the butter and allow it to brown (see note). Add half the curry leaves to the brown butter and let them sputter and sizzle. When they stop sizzling (seconds later!), scoop them out and set aside. Take the butter off the heat.
When the fish is resting, heat the butter again and add the remaining curry leaves. Let them sputter and sizzle again, but leave them in for slightly longer this time, until the leaves start to turn brown. Scoop out and discard these leaves too. Turn the heat off, add in the vinegar (which will bubble up!) and a pinch of salt and stir to combine.
To fillet your flounder, first place the fish on your serving platter. If it’s a larger fish, split the top fillet down the centre using a fish spatula or spoon and push the fillets off the bone. For smaller fish (pictured), use a fish spatula or spoon to push the side off the bone, keeping it whole, coming in from the top and bottom of the fish. Lift the spine bone from the fish, discarding it, along with the head, tail and any other bones you encounter along the way. Place the top fillets or side back onto the fish.
To serve, spoon the curry leaf brown butter over the fish and finish with the reserved fried curry leaves and a sprinkle of salt. Serve hot.
Note: A voyage to brown butter: set over heat, butter will first melt, freeing the liquid that is trapped within the fat. As that liquid simmers, it will bubble up and become steam. The bubbles will be even in size, and the bubbling will sound gentle. When that liquid has almost evaporated, the sound will change and there will be more sizzling as the bubbles become uneven in size and start to foam. When all the liquid is gone, that foam – and the milk solids beneath – will start to caramelise. The butter will go silent; there is no more liquid to evaporate, so it becomes still. Now is when you really need to pay attention; it can go from nutty and golden to burnt very quickly. When the liquid smells deliciously nutty and turns an amber shade of gold, it’s perfect. Remove the brown butter from the heat immediately, or add liquid, such as lemon juice, vinegar or water, to stop it from cooking further.
Serving suggestion: Serve this with the Sautéed garlicky greens
Images and text from Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez with Libby Travers, 📷 Alan Benson.
