How to Cook Lemon Sole

Lemon sole is a particularly delicate species of fish, both in texture and in flavour. It is therefore extremely important that we take both these factors in to account when deciding how we are going to prepare it. What follows is a guide to the way in which I like to cook this fish. I very much hope that you try it out for yourself and enjoy it as much as I do.

Do you care about the future of our fishing stocks and the variety of species which are in such frightening decline in numbers in our seas and oceans, around the world? The page linked to below the image on the right allows you to join the sustainability campaign, "The Big Fish Fight," and affords lots of tasty recipes - such as the one pictured - for fish which are not presently endangered.

Particularly here in the UK, it is commonplace to deep fry a lot of different varieties of white fish in batter. It is our national fast food, after all, fish and chips. A lot of fish - such as cod and haddock, to name but two - can be thoroughly enjoyable when prepared in this fashion, but not in my opinion lemon sole.

I like to bake lemon sole in aluminium foil. Simply pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees celsius or equivalent and put a large sheet of foil on a baking tray. Drizzle the tiniest amount of sunflower oil over the centre of the foil and place the fillet of lemon sole on it, what was the skin side down, and season lightly with salt. On occasion, I also tear up a single basil leaf and scatter it over the top. Gently wipe the fish over the centre of the foil to lightly coat the underside with oil then carefully wrap the foil up in to a sealed package. Place it in to the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, depending upon the size of the fillet.

The lemon sole fillet below I served with some boiled broccoli and garlic. Boil the broccoli for about eight minutes in lightly salted water, adding the chopped garlic about half way through the cooking time.