The Basics: How to Sauté Fish with Lemon and Capers

Published on Wednesday, April 22, 2009, by CHOW Food Team / Edit Post

From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from raw ingredients to your dinner tonight, free of measurements and complicated techniques. It’s a method you’ll remember and whip out whenever you like. It is the most basic way to make the thing you’re making.

  • WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
  • - a frying pan
  • - a spatula
  • - olive oil
  • - two thin, boneless, skinless fillets of firm white fish (e.g., tilapia, sole, cod, rockfish, snapper)
  • - salt and pepper
  • - dry vermouth
  • - the juice of half a lemon
  • - a heaping spoonful of capers
  • - one pat of butter

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

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  • 1. Rub oil on both sides of the fillets, then season with salt and pepper.

  • 2. Heat the frying pan over medium heat for about four minutes. Once it’s almost smoking, add the fish.

  • 3. Cook without touching the fillets for about three minutes, or until the edges are turning white and the fillets are a little brown on the bottom. Flip and cook the other side for about two minutes. Remove the fish from the pan.

  • 4. Cover the bottom of the pan with a couple of glugs of vermouth. Add the lemon juice and capers. Mix with the spatula, lightly scraping up any bits that might have stuck to the pan.

  • 5. Turn off the heat, swirl in the butter, and season with salt and pepper.

  • 6. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

Illustrations by Bill Russell

ALLThe Basics
POST A COMMENT |20 Comments

COMMENT

  • nice, I make almost this exact recipe with thinly pounded chicken breasts all the time, looking forward to trying it with fish!

  • sophileonard, you can use either type of pan, but you'll get a more flavorful sauce from a regular (not non-stick) pan.

    Amy Wisniewski, CHOW test kitchen

  • Should this be a non-stick pan?

  • Thanks, Deborah. I totally missed the list of ingredients - not too observant of me!

  • Hi prio girl, thanks for your question. The list of ingredients under "What You'll Need" actually specifies dry vermouth (though you're correct, in step 4 we just say to add vermouth), so hopefully there won't be any mixups!

    Deborah from CHOW

  • Nice, simple, easy to follow recipe that should have good results. One thing that comes to my attention is: the recipe says to add vermouth. I know it should be dry vermouth but, if this is a simple recipe for beginner cooks, aren't there some who might not know the difference and use sweet vermouth? Just wondering....

  • Wonderful fish dish. No big deal on the lack of details in the recipe. Chowhound has all kinds of recipes--why not a minimalist one every now and then. If you're really worried about exactly how much oil, how many capers, etc.--maybe you should first try a basic cooking course so that you'll feel easier improvising some with simple dishes :) Measurements for something this basic can be...+READ

    Wonderful fish dish. No big deal on the lack of details in the recipe. Chowhound has all kinds of recipes--why not a minimalist one every now and then. If you're really worried about exactly how much oil, how many capers, etc.--maybe you should first try a basic cooking course so that you'll feel easier improvising some with simple dishes :) Measurements for something this basic can be eyeballed..-COLLAPSE

  • Nice recipe and I like the step by step format. One magic ingredient in every recipe, though, is having the tools to do the job. For this recipe (in my opinion), that includes a good nonstick pan for this recipe, and a turner that won't make a mess of the delicate fish. Here are links to a couple of items that will improve anyone's success rate with this dish:
    http://bit.ly/cYSpLF and...+READ

    Nice recipe and I like the step by step format. One magic ingredient in every recipe, though, is having the tools to do the job. For this recipe (in my opinion), that includes a good nonstick pan for this recipe, and a turner that won't make a mess of the delicate fish. Here are links to a couple of items that will improve anyone's success rate with this dish:
    http://bit.ly/cYSpLF and http://bit.ly/bhuhy7-COLLAPSE

  • A recipe is only a guide for your imagination.

  • IMHO, all sides get entirely too wound up on these posts. Chill, my friends.

  • You're welcome, DeborahL. And thank you for the clarification.

  • h2Bn, thanks for noticing the discrepancy in step 2. We've updated the instructions, but to clarify, it's the pan that should be almost smoking. No oil should be added to the pan because you've already oiled the fish.

    Deborah from CHOW

  • Ok, for sticklers of information you must have overlooked the description at the top of the page: "free of measurements and complicated techniques".

    The idea here is to give you the basic technique so you can figure it out on your own. It's exhausting to depend on recipes for everything.

    Use your imagination, preferences and common sense, it's much more fun and then maybe you'll have lucky...+READ

    Ok, for sticklers of information you must have overlooked the description at the top of the page: "free of measurements and complicated techniques".

    The idea here is to give you the basic technique so you can figure it out on your own. It's exhausting to depend on recipes for everything.

    Use your imagination, preferences and common sense, it's much more fun and then maybe you'll have lucky accidents every now and then and before you know it you'll be writing your own recipes and sending them to your friends:)-COLLAPSE

  • Sorry for the duplicate post.

    I do have a question about the capers - a heaping tablespoon or a heaping teaspoon? That would make a lot of difference. I'm making it tonight and I will start with a teaspoon.

    This recipe is poorly written - I would expect more from CHOW - and I am an experienced cook.

  • Not everyone is an expert cook. Some may be making something like this for the first time and of course would not know the correct amount of oil, etc.. Experienced cooks also appreciate knowing the exact amounts required. There is no law that we have to follow a recipe exactly, but it is nice to have something to start with.

  • Thanks, JR.

    Mine must have been a stupid question, because I am far beyond "understanding basic cooking techniques." And I do not follow recipes blindly, though I do think they should be clear.

  • H2 - just enough oil to cook the fish (How big is your pan?). You need to understand some basic cooking techniques, then you won't continue to blindly follow a recipe.

    Sillygirl, a swirl will do just fine... the wine and capers should have released easily the fond from the pan. The butter is just there to lightly bind the pan sauce that forms.

    This is a very basic recipe I have done a...+READ

    H2 - just enough oil to cook the fish (How big is your pan?). You need to understand some basic cooking techniques, then you won't continue to blindly follow a recipe.

    Sillygirl, a swirl will do just fine... the wine and capers should have released easily the fond from the pan. The butter is just there to lightly bind the pan sauce that forms.

    This is a very basic recipe I have done a zillion times... add some lemon juice and zest and you have a simple picatta sauce. Even better-COLLAPSE

  • I don't think "swirling" the butter in would be enough - I always take a whisk to it.

  • Step 2 refers to oil in the pan, but does not say when to add nor how much.

  • Excellent