This sea fish with strange bulging eyes and a flat body is a real storehouse of healthy Omega-3 acids. They help our body get rid of cancer cells, slow down skin aging, and make our immune system stronger. In any form, be it grilled or steamed flounder, fish should be included in the diet. This sea creature is especially good for those who are on a diet. It is very healthy, but not at all fatty and low in calories.
For cooking, it is better to take already prepared fillet. If the store doesn’t have it or you decide to save money by buying a whole fish and cutting it at home, don’t forget about the specific smell of flounder. You can get rid of it with lemon juice. Carefully remove the skin, sprinkle with lemon, leave for a couple of minutes - and there is no smell. Today we have selected several good and proven grilling recipes, where flounder will play the main role. There are options for both cooking over an open fire (on a fire, grill) and for a home grill pan.
Description of the cooking process
As you can see, the ingredient list is very short. The main role in preparing delicious fish will be played by a mixture of seasonings. Ideal if you find fresh flounder. But in most cases, only frozen fish is sold in the store. It is recommended to defrost it in natural conditions. No microwave or hot water.
If the fish has been defrosted correctly, the skin will come off very quickly and easily. We make fairly deep cuts on the white side. The knife should reach almost to the ridge. “We will thoroughly treat” the carcass with olive oil mixed with a set of spices. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Leave the carcass to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
Wash the dill, dry it slightly and fill the slits in the fish with herbs. Many chefs believe that dill is ideal for grilled flounder. It will give a rich, unusual and piquant aroma. But if you don’t have it on hand, you can always replace it with celery, parsley or oregano.
Place the fish on the grill or barbecue grill. You don't need a lot of heat to cook flounder, so the coals should cool slightly. The fish is cooked in a matter of minutes, so it is not recommended to leave the grill. Depending on the heat, the cooking time will be from 12 to 20 minutes. If you want the fish to be fattier and juicier, if you are willing to sacrifice a crispy crust, then wrap the flounder in foil.
Useful properties and calorie content
Flounder can be safely classified as a healthy fish variety that can play a significant role in the diet of any person. It is suitable for dietary nutrition if you want to lose weight. Unlike smoking, grilling keeps calories low.
Grilling allows you to get about 110 kcal per 100 grams of the finished product. There are no carbohydrates in the dish. But there are proteins and fats that cover 25 and 2% of a person’s daily need for these nutrients.
If we talk about beneficial properties, they are achieved due to the presence of the following substances in flounder:
- vitamin A;
- vitamin B1 and B2;
- vitamin PP;
- potassium;
- vitamin C;
- sodium;
- chlorine;
- magnesium;
- iodine;
- cobalt;
- chromium.
It is also interesting that flounder is capable of meeting human needs for cobalt and chromium with a large margin. The content of these substances in such fish is very high.
It is important to understand that with prolonged heat treatment, most of the benefits are lost. Therefore, it is not recommended to overexpose flounder.
The marinade used is also of great importance in terms of calorie content. Give preference to natural spices, a small amount of salt, and vegetable oils.
Grilled fish on a frying pan
The weather outside is “non-flying”, but you really want to cook fish on the grill? An excellent option in such a situation would be a special frying pan. A grill pan cooks flounder, like any other fish, as well as meat and vegetables, quickly and very tasty. In addition, a big advantage of this cooking method is that it does not require a lot of oil. The dishes are dietary, tasty, juicy and aromatic.
With lemon and tomatoes
The fish is cooked over coals on a double-sided grill. For one large carcass (about 2.5 kg) you will need to take:
- one large lemon;
- two medium-sized tomatoes;
- 50 ml vegetable oil;
- 15 grams of pepper mixture;
- fresh rosemary (3-4 stalks);
- salt pepper.
Preparation:
- Remove the entrails from the fish, cut off the head, rinse and dry.
- Rub the carcass on all sides with rosemary, then salt, pepper and vegetable oil.
- Cut the lemon into thin semicircles, medium-thick tomatoes into slices.
- Place foil on the grill, place the fish carcass on it, add lemon and tomato slices on top, place several lemon slices in the belly and under the fish.
- Cover with a layer of foil, wrap it around the perimeter of the grill and press the lid tightly.
- Place a rack over the coals (not lit) and roast for an hour, turning every 8 minutes.
Cooking barbecue flounder is not difficult; even the most basic method of grilling over coals will please you, because it is delicious in itself.
How is the dish prepared?
Fish carcasses are washed under water, removing fins and entrails. Due to the specific smell of iodine, you simply cannot do without lemon juice in the process of preparing this big-eyed inhabitant of the seas. The whole flounder is coated with a mixture of lemon juice, sesame oil, wine and soy sauce. First, you need to dissolve a spoonful of sugar in this mixture and add chopped ginger. The fish should remain in this marinade for one hour.
The sauce is perfect for preparing flounder for frying over an open fire. If the weather is bad, we use a gas or electric grill. By the way, on a grill the fish will cook for about 10-12 minutes, but in a grill pan it will take only 3-4 minutes.
With bell pepper
Flounder meat goes well with bell pepper. For the recipe you need:
- flounder – 600 g
- sunflower oil – 4 tbsp. l.
- bell pepper – 1 pc.
- garlic – 3 cloves
- rosemary – 4 leaves
- allspice – 6 peas.
- salt - to taste.
- The flounder is defrosted, washed, and cut, removing the insides of the head and tail.
- Allspice, rosemary, crushed garlic are ground in a mortar and mixed with a small amount of oil and salt.
- The resulting mixture is rubbed onto fish carcasses. They are placed on the grill and fried until done.
- Bell peppers, cut into wide slices, are fried separately in a frying pan with sunflower oil.
- Flounder and pepper are combined. Fried flounder in a frying pan is ready.
Prep time – 20 minutes, cooking time – 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 4
Energy value of one serving:
calorie content – 185 kcal; proteins – 38 g; fats – 2 g; carbohydrates – 5 g.
Cooking features
Frozen fish should get rid of ice naturally, so we move it from the freezer to the refrigerator. While the ice is melting, you can spend this time preparing the sauce. Pour the juice of one lemon into a small saucepan and cut the kumquats into small slices. Lightly heat the fruit and add sugar. Let's boil. Turn the heat to low and reduce the sauce by half. As soon as you notice that the sauce has begun to thicken, add the rosemary sprigs. Remove the dishes from the heat. Let the sauce cool naturally at room temperature.
We wash the thawed fish, gut it, and remove the fins, head and gills. The skin is removed only from large fish. If you cut the flounder correctly, there will be no unpleasant smell of the sea or iodine. If it seems to be present, sprinkle the carcass with lemon juice. Rub olive oil, salt and ground pepper into the fish. Place the fish in the frying pan. This grilled flounder recipe is super quick. It is enough to fry the fish for 4 minutes on each side. After cooking, it is recommended to remove the skin and bones, pour sauce over the fish and serve with fresh herbs.
With tomato sauce
A very simple recipe. Required ingredients:
- flounder – 600 g
- tomatoes - 3 pcs.
- thyme – 3 leaves
- salt, spices - to taste.
- Prepare the fish: separate the head, tail, fins, remove the entrails, remove the skin to avoid smell.
- Rub the fish with spices and salt and set aside for 20 minutes.
- Pass fresh tomatoes through a blender, add thyme and salt.
- Place the fish on the grill and cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve the finished fish with tomato sauce.
Prep time – 30 minutes, cooking time – 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 4
Energy value of one serving:
calorie content – 186 kcal; proteins – 37 g; fats – 2 g; carbohydrates – 4 g.
How is fish prepared?
Any grilling recipe requires pre-marinating the fish. After the flounder has been washed, cleaned of entrails, and removed from the fins and head, it is rubbed with a mixture of salt, lemon juice and pepper. A marinade is prepared from sesame oil, soy sauce and lemon juice. Flounder is placed in it for 35 minutes. The fish is marinated in the refrigerator.
After the specified time has passed, the flounder is removed from the marinade and grilled for 3 minutes on each side. If the fish is cooked in a grill pan, the time increases to 10 minutes. Flounder is served with plenty of fresh herbs and neat slices of tomatoes. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the fish and pour sesame oil over it.
Marinated with onions and carrots
Marinated fish can be considered a traditional Russian dish. Pan-fried flounder goes very well in this recipe, especially when cooked on the grill. The taste can be varied within wide limits due to the composition of the marinade.
List of required products:
- flounder – 1 kg
- vegetable oil - 70 ml
- onions – 2 pcs.
- carrots – 2 pcs.
- tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.
- table vinegar - 2 tbsp. l.
- black pepper – 5 peas
- cloves – 3 pestles
- bay leaf – 2 pcs.
- water – 150 ml
- salt, sugar - to taste
- The fish is defrosted, washed and cut.
- Whole fish is fried on the grill or on an electric grill until cooked. If the fish is large, it is cut into portions.
- The marinade is being prepared. To do this, the onions and carrots are peeled, the onions are cut into rings, and the carrots into strips. Place carrots in a hot frying pan with sunflower oil, then onions. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the contents for about 10 minutes. How long to simmer is determined by the readiness of the vegetables.
- Bay leaf, pepper, cloves and tomato paste are added to the pan. You might also want to follow this advice: “Thyme goes brilliantly with onions, and rosemary goes great with carrots.” (Gordon Ramsay, British chef)
- Add water and continue simmering for another 15 minutes until the carrots and onions are ready.
- At the end, add salt, vinegar and sugar as much as needed to taste. The marinade is cooked for another 5 minutes.
- The hot marinade is poured over the finished fish. The dish can be eaten both cold and warm. The best side dishes are mashed potatoes and boiled rice.
Prep time – 20 minutes, cooking time – 50 minutes.
To save time, “when you start preparing a dish, it is very important to put all the ingredients on the table in the order in which they will be used in cooking” (Paul Bocuse, French cook).
Number of servings: 6
Energy value of one serving:
calorie content – 165 kcal; proteins – 37 g; fats – 2 g; carbohydrates – 4 g.
Flounder on the grill - an original dish for a picnic
Every lover of grilled dishes has tried at least once in his life to cook something other than meat straight from the fire. Most often it can be vegetables, chicken or fish. In today's article we will tell you how to cook one of the most delicious sea fish - flounder.
This fish is very tender, juicy, its meat is white and completely lean. It is prepared quite simply and quickly, which means you won’t have to worry too much about the main dish if guests suddenly arrive. You can cook this sea creature using a frying pan or in the oven, but there is no doubt that fish from the fire tastes best. And, if you caught it with your own hands, the dish will turn out even more delicious, because the fish will be simply fresh.
So, we will look at several options for cooking fish on the grill. And you can choose the recipe that you like the most.
Recipe for “Flounder with golden crust”:
As a side dish for the fish, I took Kuban rice in bags. Place the bag of rice in boiling water and simmer for 25 minutes.
Finely chop the onion and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
Transfer to a bowl, cool slightly, add slightly beaten egg whites, white and ground pepper and 1 tbsp. l. flour.
Grate carrots and zucchini on a medium grater.
Squeeze the grated carrots and zucchini well from the juice and add to the mixture of onions, flour and proteins. Mix.
If you do not have flounder fillets, then you need to separate the head from the flounder carcass, gut it, wash it under the tap and dry it with a paper towel. Trim the fins on both sides and the tail
Carefully pry the skin with a knife and remove it. (If desired, you can separate the fillet from the bones)
Salt the flounder and roll in the remaining flour.
On each side of the fish we spread the prepared mixture: carrots, zucchini, proteins and flour.
Fry in vegetable oil for 10 minutes on each side over medium heat, turning once.
It took 25 minutes for the rice to cook. Remove the bag and let the water drain.
Serve golden-crusted flounder with rice and vegetables. Bon appetit!
This recipe is part of the “Cooking Together - Culinary Week” campaign. Discussion of cooking on the forum - https://forum.povarenok.ru/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=6693
Flounder in sour cream
The whole family will also like the recipe for cooking flounder in milk sauce, which is a mixture of sour cream and broth. Can be cooked by stewing or baking. In the latter version, the taste and texture of the fish is richer and more expressive. It is poured with sour cream sauce and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, so the bottom is creamy and creamy, and the top is slightly crispy.
Ingredients:
- fillet – 4 pcs.;
- sour cream – 300 g;
- broth – 250 ml;
- cheese – 60 g;
- crackers – 60 g;
- oil – 10 ml;
- a pinch of paprika.
Preparation:
- Whisk sour cream and broth.
- Combine breadcrumbs, butter and paprika.
- Rub the fish with pepper and salt, place in a mold, pour in sour cream, sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs.
- Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes.
Hot smoked flounder
Smokehouse owners know the answer to how to properly cook flounder in order to preserve its entire vitamin content, extend its shelf life and get aromatic fish. They smoke the fish using a hot method. The process occurs at temperatures above 80°C. As a result, the fish is deprived of pathogenic bacteria and becomes safe to eat.
Ingredients:
- flounder – 8 pcs.;
- salt – 250 g.
Preparation:
- Sprinkle the gutted flounder with salt for 2 hours.
- Scrape off the salt with a knife.
- Air dry the carcasses for an hour.
- Place beech or apple wood chips on the bottom of the smokehouse.
- Place a tray on top to collect fat and a grill with fish.
- Smoke with the lid closed for 20 minutes, turn over and leave for another 10 minutes.
Flounder in foil in the oven
If you love healthy eating, then take a closer look at this dish. Recipes for cooking flounder in the oven are convenient because they can be customized to suit any preferences. This means that in pursuit of the perfect result, everyone prefers to use foil. An airtight foil bag prevents fish juices from evaporating during baking, so the fish turns out tender, similar to the one that is steamed.
Ingredients:
- two fillets – 220 g each;
- clove of garlic – 2 pcs.;
- ginger – 2 cm;
- chili – 1 pc.;
- green onions – 10 g;
- soy sauce – 35 ml.
Preparation:
- Place two pieces of foil on top of each other and brush with oil.
- Place seasoned fish, spices and sauce on top.
- Seal the foil.
- To make tasty flounder, cooking recipes imply that the fish is baked at 190°C for 15 minutes.
Flounder on the grill with dill
Compound:
- flounder – 0.8-1 kg;
- fresh dill – 50 g;
- olive oil – 40 ml;
- lemon juice – 40 ml;
- salt, pepper mixture - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Remove the flounder from the freezer in advance and leave it in the main compartment of the refrigerator until completely thawed.
- If necessary, gut the fish and remove its head, although gutted flounder carcasses without a head are often sold for sale.
- Rinse the carcass and dry. Remove the skin from it.
- Make cuts about half a centimeter deep or slightly deeper on the sides of the flounder.
- Season the fish inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Mix the oil and lemon juice and use a pastry brush to coat the fish on all sides with the mixture.
- Insert sprigs of dill into the cuts, after washing and drying it.
- Place the flounder in a bowl and cover it with cling film. Place in a cool place for 30-60 minutes.
- While the flounder is marinating, prepare the grill. You will need to fry the fish over hot coals.
- Place the flounder carcass on the closing double-sided grill.
- Close the grille. Place it on the grill.
- Fry the flounder for 20-25 minutes, remembering to turn it over periodically. If you have not one large carcass, but two small ones, then it is advisable to reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes.
Before frying flounder on the grill, you can remove the dill if you are afraid that it will start to burn, but this is not necessary. You can also bake flounder according to this recipe by first wrapping it in foil. Then the cooking time for large fish will be 40 minutes, small fish - 25-30 minutes.
Flounder with ginger on the grill
This recipe has a piquant, more pronounced taste. For it you will need the following products:
- fish carcass – 3 pcs. (one per serving);
- lemon – 1 pc.;
- grated ginger – 3 tsp;
- salt, pepper – 3 tbsp;
- any vegetable oil – 3 tbsp;
- other spices - to taste.
Preparation will take you no more than two hours (this includes marinating). But the spicy taste will please you very much, so let’s move on to cooking.
Let's look at the step-by-step recipe again:
- Again we clean the fish from scales and entrails, and cut off the head. We wash the carcass under running water and dry it with paper towels.
- Each fish must be thoroughly rubbed with salt, pepper, grated ginger, and spices (for example, there are special seasonings for fish).
- The workpiece should be allowed to stand for about an hour and a half. However, if possible, leave the fish to marinate overnight.
- Grease the grill grate with oil and place the flounder on it.
- Grill over coals for about 5 minutes on each side.
- The fish is ready! Serve hot with plenty of lemon juice on top.
As you can see, the recipes are completely simple and not complicated. The fish is prepared simply. The aroma and taste are simply amazing, they can blow anyone away. Every day, try to please yourself and your loved ones with something tasty. And, although happiness is not in food, sometimes it greatly lifts our mood.
Flounder in batter
Even more exotic Black Sea flounder, whose cooking recipes are closely related to its construction, is breaded in batter. Kalakan (the so-called species of flounder that lives in the Black Sea) has rough bony bumps on the surface of the skin. For this reason, the skin is removed from the carcass, and to protect the meat from drying out, it is breaded in batter and fried.
Ingredients:
- fillet – 6 pcs.;
- wheat flour – 200 g;
- baking powder – 7 g;
- butter – 50 g;
- kefir – 250 ml;
- corn flour – 150 g.
Preparation:
- Place flounder in kefir.
- Grind the wheat flour with a pinch of salt, butter and baking powder.
- Add cornmeal.
- Dip the fish in flour and fry in hot oil for 2 minutes. from each side.