Pan-Roasted Fish Fillets With Herb Butter

Recipe from Mark Usewicz

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Pan-Roasted Fish Fillets With Herb Butter
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
5(3,438)
Comments
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A blast of heat in a cast-iron pan and a basting of golden butter does wonders for plain fish fillets. This life-changing method is adopted from a former chef and current fishmonger, Mark Usewicz of Mermaid’s Garden in Brooklyn, who also teaches cooking classes in topics like “How to Cook Fish in a New York City Apartment.” The cooking time is so short that the smell — which, if your fish is fresh and not funky, should not be overpowering — will dissipate quickly. And in the meantime, you have an easy dinner of tender fish with a toothsome crust, anointed with nutty, lemony brown butter and perfumed with herbs.

You can use virtually any fish fillet, skin on or off, as long as it is not too thick. If the butter is browning too fast, reduce the heat and add a nut of cold butter to prevent scorching, or squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. —Julia Moskin

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Ingredients

Yield:2 servings
  • 25- to 6-ounce fish fillets, like black bass, haddock, fluke, striped bass, tilefish, snapper or salmon, ½- to 1-inch thick
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • 3tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2sprigs fresh thyme, tarragon, chives or another herb
  • 1tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, optional
  • Lemon wedges
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

462 calories; 37 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 18 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 29 grams protein; 475 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pat fillets dry with a paper towel. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Heat a heavy 10-inch nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil. Place the fillets in the pan, skin side down (if applicable), laying them down away from your body. If fillets have skin, press down gently with a spatula for about 20 seconds to prevent curling.

  3. Step 3

    Lower heat to medium and let sizzle until fish is golden and caramelized around edges, about 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully flip fillets and add butter and thyme to pan. Tilt pan slightly to let the melted butter pool at one end. Use a spoon to baste the fish with the pooled butter. Continue basting until golden all over and cooked through, 45 to 90 seconds more, depending on the thickness of your fish. Serve immediately with chopped parsley (if using) and lemon wedges.

Tip
  • Almost any good, dry white wine will go with fish fillets like these. But one in particular will have such a beautiful, delicious relationship with these fillets that it stands out. That is Chablis, the most singular expression of chardonnay, in which the wines lean toward steely and firm rather than opulent. Seek out a good premier cru Chablis from a classic year like 2012 (maybe too young), 2010, 2008 or 2007, but even a straightforward village-level Chablis will do. If not Chablis, other white Burgundies won’t disappoint, even less expensive bottles from the Mâconnais, and firmer, less flamboyant chardonnays from the West Coast. Good Italian whites like fianos from Campania or carricantes from Mount Etna on Sicily will work well, too, as will Sancerres and other Loire sauvignon blancs. ERIC ASIMOV

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Ratings

5 out of 5
3,438 user ratings
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Comments

Bruce

Nice recipe--but all wrong if your filet has skin. If it'll be flipped, always start pan frying fish flesh side down, so it lies flat and cooks evenly. The skin side, heated first, will immediately shrink, curling the filet so it won't lie flat when you flip it. Pressing down with a spatula for 20 seconds, as suggested, is unworkable, especially if you're cooking multiple filets. Moreover, if you start skin side down then flip, you're basting the skin, not the flesh. Ugly.

Mark

Update: I love the recipe and have used it many times with many types of fish. But every time, cooking for "2to 3 minutes" on one side and "45 to 90 seconds" on the other produces fish that is still way undercooked. Even with a very hot cast iron pan (recommended), I find that 2-3 minutes PER SIDE is needed -- and I tend to prefer most fish a bit rare.

Judith Bluysen

Tried it with filets with and without skin. As is, works fine with skin-on filets, but the smallest bit of rubbed-in flour adds color and slight crisp to naked filet. Next time will add paprika to flour.

Pletson

cooked some sea bass in a carbon steel skillet and got great sear on the fish. it turned out very delicate with the prescribed time. next time I will use less oil and more herbs.

CAL

Cast iron did not work for me at all. Delicate fish stuck to pan and all the yummy caramelized bits did come with the fish. Perhaps I shouldn't have cut back on the oil per other comments.

Heather

I made it with 2 lovely fresh tilapia fillets, and just didn't cook them quite as long! Excellent!

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Credits

Adapted from Mark Usewicz, Mermaid’s Garden, Brooklyn

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