Crispy fish skin is spectacular. It is achieved by dusting the fish with flour before pan-frying it. This preparation method is called miller-style (‘Müllerinart’ in German). British and American people seem to associate this way of preparing fish with France because this dish is commonly referred to as trout meunière in the English-speaking hemisphere. I don’t know what is particularly French about this preparation method because it is common all over Western Europe. If you add some fried almonds to the fish, then trout meunière becomes trout almondine.
In Northern Germany, they often fry a piece of plaice filet in butter. In France, they go crazy for sole meunière. And in Southern Germany, we use river fish to prepare this dish. The best ones to use are either trout or arctic char. The best thing about using a whole fish is that the skin goes ultra-crispy. There’s hardly any better way to enjoy a freshly caught trout.
Don’t be afraid to add plenty of butter when frying the fish and almonds. Yes, this dish is a bit fatty but it is tasty. And the fish meat is incredibly moist because the crispy skin protects it from drying out when we fry it in the pan.
I always reserve a few almonds because I like to garnish the trout with partly fried and partly fresh almond slices. When you fry the almonds, be very careful as they can burn very quickly in the hot butter. It takes a few seconds for them to go from golden brown to burnt.
Traditionally, trout almondine is served with plain potatoes. In Germany, fish is somehow associated with potatoes as a side dish. I don’t know why that is. It would be weird to eat trout almondine with spätzle or noodles if you don’t have any sauce on the side. But I often think a baguette on the side would be great to soak up the almond butter.
Trout Almondine (‘Forelle Müllerin’)
Ingredients
For the trout:
- 1 trout
- salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- all-purpose flour, for dusting
- 2 tablespoons clarified butter
- 2 tablespoons butter
For the almonds:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1 small lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
Instructions
- Season the trout to taste with salt. Marinate the trout with white wine, then dust it generously with all-purpose flour so that it is evenly coated and completely dry on the surface.
- Heat the clarified butter in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the trout into the hot pan and sear on the first side for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown on the first side. Then, turn over the trout and sear it on the other side for another 2-3 minutes or until golden on both sides. Add the butter to the pan and use a spoon to continuously spoon the hot butter over the trout until it is cooked through. Set the trout aside and drain off the fat from the pan.
- Add the fresh butter together with the almonds into the hot pan and fry for 2-3 minutes, until the almonds are golden brown and roasted. Immediately take the pan off the heat and spoon the butter-almond mixture over the trout. Garnish with some fresh almond slices and serve the trout while still hot and crispy. If you want, you can serve this dish with some lemon wedges on the side to squeeze over the trout at the table.
Hallo Tim, My father was an avid trout fisherman and we ate it my whole youth. The reason always given to me as to why it was accompanied by boiled potatoes (Saltzkartoffeln) was to help wash down any errant fishbones that may get stuck in the throat.
Thanks Andreas! Sounds very interesting. I had never heard of that but you might be onto something.
It must’ve been amazing to eat all that fresh trout from your father. Trout that has been caught just a few hours ago is always the best, especially in spring where the water in the river is cold.