This pan fried halibut with fennel velouté is so simple to make in less than half an hour, but it will really impress your guests and family.
The fish has a deliciously crispy skin and gently flaking flesh, so the subtle flavour of the fennel in the sauce is the perfect accompaniment too.
In fact, this sauce goes with any fish or shellfish too.
Bon appétit!
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❤️ Why you will love this dish
- Perfect for impressive entertaining
- Suprisingly easy to make
- Ready in under 30 minutes
- Make the sauce ahead if you prefer
- Goes well with many fish dishes
We are really lucky to have a great fishmonger in town on a Saturday morning, so when we visit we are always keen to see what he has available. Well, this week he had swordfish, which we love, but he also had halibut, our absolute favourite!
Halibut is a firm white fish with a delicate flavour that is easy to cook with, however, it is an expensive choice as it is a slow growing fish, so we only have it on special occasions.
I've paired the pan fried halibut with a fennel velouté sauce, which doesn't overpower the natural flavour and is not too heavy.
A velouté is one of the French mother sauces, along with béchamel, espagnole, tomato, and Hollandaise sauce. Essentially, it's a simple stock based sauce enriched with butter or cream or both.
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🥘 Ingredients
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Here's a note on some of the ingredients.
- Seasoning and oil - these are not on the ingredients picture as they are kitchen basics. I always use flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning meat and fish and white pepper for white sauces. I prefer to use light olive oil for frying.
- Fish stock - if you are using bought stock be aware of the salt content before you season the sauce. Use vegetable stock if you prefer.
- Double cream - also known as heavy cream.
- Fennel - save a few fronds to garnish the sauce at the end.
- Flour - plain or all purpose flour.
- Halibut - more supermarkets stock this now, however the portions seem to be a lot thinner, so cooking time will really depend on the thickness.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- kitchen paper
- sharp knife
- fish spatula/tongs
- blender or immersion blender
- heavy non-stick frying pan - for the fish
- medium frying pan - for the sauce
🔪 Instructions
Dice the fennel into small pieces and peel and dice the shallot.
If you have any fennel fronds set them aside to use as garnish later.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat then add the shallot and the diced fennel.
Sauté for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring until the shallot and fennel are softened but not coloured.
Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
Gradually stir in the stock, then stir the sauce over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until thickened.
Stir in the cream.
Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth or use an immersion blender.
Check the seasoning and return to the pan.
Warm up the sauce just before serving.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Dry the halibut fillets well with kitchen paper then season with salt and pepper. This helps the skin to crispu upand form a nice crust.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the halibut skin side down.
Cook for 3-4 minutes until golden then turn over and cook for 2-4 minutes until opaque.
At this stage the fish should be cooked. However, for thicker pieces of fish place in the oven after cooking in the pan at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 until the internal temperature reaches 63 C or 145 F.
Allow the fish to rest for a few minutes before serving with the sauce.
I fried some sliced sprouts with oil and butter until just cooked then placed in the middle of a pasta plate with the pan fried halibut on the top.
Then I added the sauce around the fish and added a few fennel fronds.
🥗 Side Dishes
- Chateau Potatoes
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Boursin Mashed Potatoes
- Fondant Potatoes
- Potatoes Aligot
- Potatoes Rissole
- Potatoes Boulangere
- Boursin Mashed Potatoes
- Sarladaise Potatoes
- Potatoes Parisienne
- Parmentier Potatoes
📖 Variations
- Fish - try salmon, cod or haddock fillets. Pollack, sea bass or sea bream would also work, but will need far less cooking.
🍣 Storage
- Refrigerator - store any unused sauce in the fridge, covered for a day.
- Freezer - not suitable for freezing
- To reheat - reheat the sauce ina pan over a low heat.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Make the fennel velouté up to 2 days in advance, but add the cream just before serving.
Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais
More fish recipes like this
- Bourride de Lotte
- Mussels in White Wine
- Stuffed Calamari
- Poor Man's Lobster with Thermidor Sauce
- Scallops with Black Pudding
- French Seafood Stew
- Baked Seafood Parcels
- Cod Mornay with Prawns
- Scallops with Chorizo
- Fish with Parsley Sauce
- Scallop Gratin
📋 Recipe
Pan Fried Halibut with Fennel Velouté
Equipment
- kitchen paper
- saucepan
- sharp knife
- fish spatula
- Blender or immersion blender
- heavy non-stick frying pan for the fish
- Medium frying pan for the sauce
Ingredients
- 600 g halibut fillet cut into 4 portions, ideally with skin on
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 500 ml fish stock
- 150 g fennel
- 15 g butter
- 40 g shallot about ¼ of an echallion
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 50 ml double cream
- flaked sea salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Dice the fennel and peel and dice the shallot.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat then add the shallot and the diced fennel and sauté for about 5 minutes until the shallot and fennel are softened but not coloured.
- Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
- Gradually stir in the stock, then stir the sauce over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until thickened.
- Stir in the cream.
- Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth or use an immersion blender.
- Check the seasoning and return to the pan.
- Dry the halibut fillets well with kitchen paper then season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat and add the halibut skin side down.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes until golden then turn over and cook for 2-4 minutes until opaque.
- At this stage the fish should be cooked. However, for thicker pieces of fish place in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 until the internal temperature reaches 63 C or 145F.
- Allow the fish to rest for a few minutes before serving with the sauce.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
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Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.
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Amanda
Perfect with any fish!