Pacific Dover Sole with Lemon and Ginger

Pacific Dover Sole is a delicious, sustainable fish species that's great to work with. Here, it's paired with lemon, ginger, celery, and forbidden rice.

Course Main Dishes

Cuisine American, Canadian, Miscellaneous, North American

Keyword easy, pacific dover sole, sole with lemon and ginger, sole with lemon sauce, sustainable seafood

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Total Time 25

Servings people

Calories 555kcal

Ingredients

1.5 lbs Pacific Dover sole fillet (or other small flatfish)
2 stalks celery sliced thinly, diagonally
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp lemon zest (approximately one lemon)
1 tbsp ginger minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp brown sugar
black rice for 4 people, see note below.

Instructions

Cut each fillet into 4-5 portions and set aside.
Combine the lemon zest, ginger, wine, and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
Turn on the broiler on the oven and allow it to preheat.
Heat a cast iron or other oven-proof skillet on the stove top over high heat for 30 seconds. Add the butter and the smoked paprika and stir together as the butter melts.
Once the butter is just beginning to bubble up, add the celery and stir together. Cook for about 30 seconds, then add the wine mixture and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the fish to the frying pan and gently stir to get some of the sauce onto to the fillets. Immediately transfer the frying pan to the oven (use whatever rack allows you to get the frying pan close to the broiler).
Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until the sauce, celery, and fish as starting to brown at the edges. Remove from heat and serve with black rice (see note below) or the side of your choice.

Notes

If you have a nice sharp microplane, feel free to use that to zest the lemon. However, try to stay away from box graters and the like, as they leave an awful lot of lemon oil on the blade. If you don't have a microplane, try peeling the lemon carefully (avoiding the bitter white pith under the surface), then slicing and finely dicing the peel. You'll end up with tiny little bits of zest that actually caramelize a little during broiling and add a lot to the character of the dish.

Black rice, also called 'forbidden rice,' refers to one of several rice varieties notable for their very high anthocyanin content. These compounds impart black rice (actually dark purple) with a rich, almost berry-like flavour. It can be found in most well-stocked East Asian grocery stores. Consider a 1:1 mix of black rice and short grain white rice (as shown in the photo), as the colour will spread to the white grains and the flavour will mellow a little bit.

Nutrition