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Trout Meunière

Truite meunière

By · Published · Mains

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A whole pan-fried trout on a dark green plate with glazed carrots and parsley.

Whole trout dusted in flour, fried in butter until the skin crisps, then finished with nutty brown butter, lemon and parsley. A French bistro classic in 25 minutes, made with Canadian farmed rainbow trout, whole or in fillets.

My pick here is whole farmed rainbow trout. It's the same fish most French fish counters sell, so this is truite meunière as it's made in France, not a Canadian stand-in. What's different is where you find it whole: in Quebec, Metro sells it at about 450 g, one per person, while most other chains only have fillets.

Fillets are the easy fallback, and they're good, but they cook drier than a fish on the bone and only the skin side crisps. If the counter will order a whole fish, that's the version worth asking for.

Truite meunière is a whole trout dusted in flour, fried in butter until the skin crisps, then covered in brown butter with lemon and parsley. It's the plainest way the French cook fish, and for me still one of the best.

Rainbow trout, char or sole?

Rainbow trout has mild, pink flesh and a thin skin that crisps well in butter. Arctic char, also farmed in Canada, is richer and comes as fillets.

Whole sole is the fish that's hard to find here. What's sold as sole is thin frozen fillets, and they work, but they cook in a third of the time, so they need watching.

How do you keep the skin on the fish and off the pan?

Dry the fish well, flour it at the last minute, and don't touch it for the first five minutes. It lets go of the pan on its own once the skin has set; if you force it earlier, the skin tears.

How brown is brown butter?

The colour of tea, and smelling of toasted hazelnuts. Black flecks mean it burnt: wipe the pan and start again, because burnt butter tastes bitter on fish.

Making it in Canada

The 2 French ingredients, and what to buy for them in Canada.

  • Truite (arc-en-ciel ou fario)→Whole farmed rainbow trout

    Most trout at a French fish counter is farmed rainbow trout too, so this is the same fish; wild brown trout (fario) is the rare one. Arctic char, also farmed in Canada, is a richer alternative, sold as fillets.

    Metro sells fresh whole rainbow trout, farm-raised in Canada, at about 450 g. Walmart (Your Fresh Market) and Costco sell farmed rainbow trout fillets. Ask the counter to clean and scale a whole fish.

  • Sole (pour une sole meunière)→Frozen sole fillets

    Fillets sold as sole in Canada are usually another small flatfish such as flounder, not the thick Dover sole of a French sole meunière. They come as thin fillets, so flour them the same way but fry only 1–2 minutes a side, and make the brown butter first so it's ready.

    Metro carries High Liner frozen sole fillets (400 g). Elsewhere, look in the frozen fish case for fillets labelled sole. Thaw them in the fridge and pat them very dry.

Good to know: Outside Quebec, whole trout is a counter special order; the Walmart and Costco fillets work with the timing below. If the counter only has fillets, use 2 trout or Arctic char fillets, skin on, and cook them 3–4 minutes skin side down and 1–2 minutes on the other side.

Ready to cook?
A whole pan-fried trout on a dark green plate with glazed carrots and parsley.

Trout Meunière

Truite meunière

Whole trout dusted in flour, fried in butter until the skin crisps, then finished with nutty brown butter, lemon and parsley. A French bistro classic in 25 minutes, made with Canadian farmed rainbow trout, whole or in fillets.

Prep time
10 min
Cook time
15 min
Total time
25 min
Servings
2

Ingredients

Original recipe: 2 servings.

Instructions

  1. Dry and season. Pat the trout dry inside and out with paper towel. Season the cavity and both sides with salt and pepper.
  2. Flour. Spread the flour on a plate and dredge each fish on both sides, then shake off the excess. Do this just before cooking, or the flour turns pasty.
  3. Fry the first side. In a 30 cm frying pan, heat the oil and 15 g butter over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Lay in the fish and cook without moving them for 5–6 minutes, until the underside is golden and releases easily.
  4. Turn and finish. Turn the fish carefully with a wide spatula and cook 4–5 minutes more, until the flesh along the backbone is opaque and comes away from the bone when you push a knife into the thickest part. Health Canada's safe minimum for fish is 70°C (158°F), taken in the thickest part near the bone. Move the fish to warm plates.
  5. Make the brown butter. Wipe out the pan. Add the remaining 45 g butter over medium heat and cook 1–2 minutes, swirling, until it foams, turns golden-brown and smells nutty. Take it off the heat, add the lemon juice (it will sizzle) and the parsley.
  6. Serve. Spoon the butter over the fish straight away and serve with lemon slices, boiled potatoes or fries.

Notes

  • Two trout of about 350 g fit head to tail in a 30 cm pan. With 450 g fish, use two pans, or an oval roasting pan across two burners. For four, cook in batches and keep the first two warm in a 90°C (200°F) oven.
  • The skin goes soft within minutes, so have the plates warm and everyone at the table before you make the brown butter.
  • Eat the skin: it's the best part.
  • To eat a whole trout, run a knife along the backbone, lift off the top fillet, then pull the bone out in one piece, head and all.

Course: Mains · Cuisine: French · Adapted for Canadian kitchens

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French ingredients and what to buy in Canada »

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