Saibling aus dem Salzkammergut (Alpine Charr)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy-bottomed frying pan (32cm, cast iron or stainless steel)
• •Wide fish spatula
• •Kitchen paper for drying

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the potatoes

   Peel the potatoes and cut them into even pieces, roughly the size of a large walnut. Put them in a pot of well-salted cold water, bring to a gentle boil, and cook until they're tender all the way through when tested with a knife point, about fifteen to twenty minutes depending on size. Starting in cold water means they cook evenly from the outside in. Drain them well, return to the warm pot, and let them sit with the lid slightly ajar for a minute. The residual heat dries them out so they don't go waterlogged.

   Kipfler potatoes or any firm, waxy variety hold their shape and have a buttery flavor that belongs next to fish. Floury potatoes will crumble and make a mess of your plate.
2. 2

   Season and dredge the fish

   Pat the charr completely dry inside and out with kitchen paper. This is the most important thing you'll do in this recipe. Wet skin will not crisp. It will stick to the pan and tear, and then you'll be serving something that looks like it lost a fight. Season each fish generously with fine salt and a little white pepper, inside the cavity and over the skin. White pepper, not black. Black pepper burns at high heat and leaves bitter flecks on the golden skin. Dredge each fish lightly in flour, shaking off the excess. The flour coat should be a whisper, not a blanket.

3. 3

   Pan-fry the charr

   Heat a large heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and half the butter together. The oil raises the smoke point so the butter can brown without burning. When the butter foams and the foam begins to subside, the fat is ready. Lay the fish in the pan, away from you so the fat doesn't splash toward your hands. Two fish at a time if your pan won't hold four without crowding. Crowding drops the temperature and you'll end up braising instead of frying. Let the first side cook undisturbed for four minutes. You'll see the edges turn golden and opaque. Resist the urge to move or peek.

   If the fish sticks when you try to turn it, it's not ready. A properly crisped skin releases from the pan on its own. Give it another thirty seconds and try again.
4. 4

   Turn and finish cooking

   Carefully turn each fish with a wide spatula. Add the remaining butter to the pan and let it melt around the fish. Tilt the pan slightly and use a spoon to baste the tops with the hot, foaming butter. Cook for another three to four minutes on the second side. The flesh near the backbone should be just opaque and flake easily when you press it gently with your finger. Charr is more delicate than trout. It goes from perfect to overcooked in less than a minute, so stay close and trust your eyes over the clock.

5. 5

   Make the Nussbutter

   While the fish rests briefly on a warm plate, wipe out the pan and set it over medium heat. Add the 80g of fresh butter. Watch it closely. It will foam, then the foam will calm, and then the milk solids on the bottom will turn from pale gold to the color of hazelnuts. You'll smell something warm and nutty. The moment it reaches that color, pull the pan off the heat. Add the lemon juice (it will spit, so stand back), the capers, and the chopped parsley. Swirl the pan once. Nussbutter, browned butter, is the classic Austrian sauce for pan-fried fish. It takes ninety seconds and it's better than anything more complicated could be.

   Nussbutter moves from perfect to burnt in seconds. Don't walk away from the pan. The colour you want is the inside of a hazelnut shell, golden brown, not dark. If it smells acrid instead of nutty, you've gone too far. Start over with fresh butter. It's cheaper than ruining the fish.
6. 6

   Finish the potatoes and serve

   Toss the warm drained potatoes with the 30g of butter and the chopped parsley. Season with salt. Lay each charr on a warm plate with the Petersilkartoffeln (parsley potatoes) alongside. Spoon the Nussbutter over the fish, letting the capers and parsley fall where they will. Set a lemon wedge on the plate. Serve immediately. The butter should still be warm and glistening on the crisp skin when it reaches the table. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Seek out charr from a good fishmonger or, if you're lucky enough to live near cold, deep lakes, a local supplier. Farmed charr is increasingly available and quite good. Wild Saibling from the Salzkammergut is extraordinary but rare outside Austria. What matters most is freshness: the eyes should be clear, the flesh firm, and it should smell like clean water, not fish.
• •Cook the fish on the bone. Fillets are convenient but they lose moisture faster and you don't get that beautiful presentation of a whole fish on the plate. The bones also add flavor during cooking and help the flesh stay together. If your guests can't handle bones, show them once how to lift the fillet off the spine at the table. It comes away clean.
• •Don't use extra virgin olive oil for frying. It has too low a smoke point and too much flavor of its own. Sunflower oil or another neutral oil mixed with butter is the right choice. The butter is for flavor. The oil is for practical heat management. Together they give you a crisp, golden result.
• •If you can't find charr, use the freshest whole trout available. The technique is identical and the result is still beautiful. But if you ever see Saibling at a market or fishmonger, buy it. You won't regret it.

Advance Preparation

• •Potatoes can be peeled and cut up to four hours ahead, stored in cold water to prevent browning. Drain and cook fresh when ready to serve.
• •The fish must be cooked and served immediately. There is no making this ahead. Buy the charr the day you plan to cook it, or at most the day before, stored on ice in the coldest part of your fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)