Fried Hake with Green Sauce

Name: Fried Hake with Green Sauce
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon chopped capers – optional; 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley; 100 mls (3 oz) good dry white wine; 2 teaspoons plain flour; 100 mls (3 oz) single, or whipping cream; 100 mls (3 oz) fish stock; 60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter or olive oil; oil or butter for frying; 2 or 3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped; 60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter or olive oil; pepper; salt; 4 × 175 g (6 oz) hake steaks; oil or butter for frying; lightly toasted breadcrumbs; beaten egg; flour

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Modern Classics

By Frances Bissell

Published 2000

About

Northern Spain has rich fishing grounds, and hake is a classic of the Basque kitchen. Green sauce, not unlike our parsley sauce, is one of the four classic Basque sauces, together with the black squid ink sauce, the white almond sauce or picada, and the red Basque sauce using pimentos, tomatoes and onions.

Ingredients

4 × 175 g (6 oz) hake steaks
salt
pepper

Europe
Spain
Fish course
Pescatarian
Mediterranean

Method

Lightly season the fish, and put to one side while you make the sauce. Heat the fat in a saucepan, and gently sweat the shallots until soft. Stir in the flour, and gradually add the wine and stock. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously to ensure a smooth sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, and then add the cream and herbs. Cook for a few minutes more, and season to taste.

Dip the fish steaks