Filets de Soles à la Hongroise

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan
• •1½-quart (1.4 L) saucepan
• •Flexible fish spatula
• •Warm oval serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the sole

   Pat the fillets thoroughly dry and season them with ½ teaspoon of the salt. Fold the narrow tail of each fillet beneath its thicker half so the parcels have an even thickness. Coat a 12-inch (30 cm) lidded sauté pan with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter, arrange the folded fillets in one snug layer, and keep them cold while you build the poaching liquor.

   Fold each tail underneath rather than simply folding the fillet in half. The even thickness lets the delicate fish finish at the same moment from edge to centre.
2. 2

   Suer the onion

   Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and paprika, then suer, sweating them gently without browning, for 3 to 4 minutes. The onion should soften and turn translucent while the butter becomes evenly paprika-gold. If the onion begins to catch, add a teaspoon of the measured wine and lower the heat. Ça se rattrape. Do not let the paprika darken, because scorched paprika leaves a bitterness reduction only magnifies.

3. 3

   Build the liquor

   Pour in the remaining white wine and scrape the saucepan clean, then add the fish fumet and chopped tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 7 to 8 minutes, exactly long enough for the tomato to soften and give itself to the liquor without disappearing into a thick sauce. Taste only for balance at this stage; the seasoning will strengthen during reduction.

4. 4

   Poach at a tremble

   Pour the hot tomato and fumet preparation evenly over the folded sole. Cover the sauté pan and set it over medium-low heat until the liquid just quivers around the edge, then lower the heat and poach for 5 to 7 minutes. The thickest fold should be pearly opaque and yield beneath a fish spatula. Never let the liquor boil. If it becomes lively, lift the covered pan off the burner for one minute and let the stored heat finish the fish; this arrests the boil before the sole tightens.

   The sole is ready at about 140°F (60°C) in the thickest fold and will rise slightly as it rests. Delicate fish rewards an early check.
5. 5

   Arrange and hold

   Warm an oval serving platter with hot water, dry it, and arrange the fillets in an overlapping circle, folded sides facing inward. Cover them loosely with parchment or foil and keep the platter beside the stove, not over direct heat. Return any liquor that gathers beneath the fish to the sauté pan. The warm platter replaces the extra service hand the original kitchen could spare.

6. 6

   Reduce to body

   Pour the cooking liquor back into the small saucepan and boil it briskly, stirring often as the tomato and onion concentrate. Reduce until the mixture is thick enough that a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a clear path for a moment. This is the source entry's stiff consistence: not dry, not pasty, but concentrated enough to support the cream. If you reduce too far, loosen it with a teaspoon of hot water. C'est la même grammaire as any pan sauce: concentration first, enrichment second.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Lower the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of the cold cream. Simmer gently for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is nappant, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon in a smooth, glossy layer. Remove it from the heat, whisk in the final tablespoon of cream and the measured lemon juice, then taste with the remaining salt and another few drops of lemon if the richness needs lifting. If oily beads appear at the edge, keep the pan off the heat and whisk in the reserved cold cream a little at a time. Ça se rattrape.

8. 8

   Coat and serve

   Spoon the Hongroise sauce generously over the circle of sole, allowing a little to pool beneath the fillets. Serve immediately, while the fish is tender and the cream sauce still holds its gloss. No decorative greenery is required. The paprika, tomato, butter, and cream have already done the work. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use sweet paprika, fresh enough to smell warm and fruity when the tin opens. Smoked paprika changes the dish completely, and hot paprika overwhelms the sole before the sauce has found its balance.
• •Prepared fish fumet is the foundation, not a background extra. If you buy it, choose an unsalted fish stock with a clean shellfish-free flavor, then taste before adding the final salt because reduction concentrates everything.
• •Fresh tomatoes belong here only when they smell and taste ripe. Out of season, use 2 good canned whole plum tomatoes, drained and squeezed to the same weight; the classical pantry solved this problem long ago.
• •Sole gives the finest, most delicate result. Lemon sole or flounder can accept the same method when true sole is unavailable, though thinner fillets may poach a minute sooner and produce a less firm parcel.
• •Serve with plain buttered rice or pommes vapeur to catch the sauce. A dry, mineral white wine such as Muscadet or Chablis keeps its footing beside the cream and paprika.

Advance Preparation

• •The prepared fish fumet may be chilled for up to 2 days or frozen well ahead. Bring it to a simmer before building the tomato liquor.
• •The onion can be chopped and the tomatoes peeled, squeezed, and chopped up to 4 hours ahead, then kept covered in the cold.
• •Do not poach the sole ahead. The sauce base may wait briefly before it meets the fish, but the final poaching, reduction, and cream finish should run together just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)