Rainbow Trout
Trout fillets pan fried skin side down for 4 minutes in butter and finished with lemon and almonds in a total of 10 minutes.
Photograph credit: Trout by darrenquigley32 · Pixabay Content License · Pixabay
Before You Start
Dry the skin completely before it goes in the pan.
Do not move the fillets while the skin crisps.
Flip for the final minute only.
Making Rainbow Trout
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Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan for 2 minutes until golden. Tip out and set aside.
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Pat the trout dry and season the skin with the salt and pepper.
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Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Lay the fillets skin side down and press lightly for 10 seconds. Cook for 4 minutes without moving.
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Flip the fillets, add the butter and cook for 1 minute, spooning the butter over.
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Squeeze in the lemon juice, scatter with the almonds and parsley and serve at once.
Why It Works
Skin first, and do not move it. That is the single most useful instruction for trout fillets, because the skin is the best part when it is crisp, and it only crisps if it sits undisturbed against a hot pan.
Rainbow trout is a farmed freshwater fish with pink flesh, a mild flavour and a delicate texture. The fillets are thin, about 2 cm, so they cook in minutes. Pat the skin dry with kitchen paper, season it generously with salt, and lay the fillets in the pan skin side down, pressing them lightly with a fish slice for the first 10 seconds so the skin does not curl.
Cook it almost entirely on the skin side. Three to four minutes is enough to cook the fillet three-quarters of the way through. Flip for the last minute only, then add butter and lemon juice to the pan. The residual heat finishes the top without drying the flesh.
Toast flaked almonds in the same pan before you start, set them aside, and scatter them over at the end. Their nutty crunch is a classic partner for trout and adds texture against the soft fish.
Storage and Reheating
Best eaten fresh. Keeps for 1 day in the fridge.
What to Serve Alongside
- New potatoes
- Steamed green beans
- Green salad
- Brown bread
Rainbow Trout Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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