To Boil Soles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean and wash the sole thoroughly without skinning it.
Cover the sole with cold water in a pot.
Add the coarse sea salt and saltpetre.
Boil and simmer
Bring the water to a boil and skim it well.
Simmer the fish gently for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on size.
For moderate-sized soles, simmer for 4 to 6 minutes.
Serve
Serve with the white skin facing up and accompany with shrimp, lobster, or anchovy sauce and dressed cucumber.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Sole
- Provides the firm white flesh that is the main component of the dish.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the water and firms the flesh of the fish during poaching.
The step that matters
Simmer gently for the right time. Gentle simmering cooks the fish evenly without toughening the delicate flesh. Boiling vigorously breaks the fish apart and makes it dry and rubbery, and timing depends on the fish's size.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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