Pan Fried Cod with Butter Sauce

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This is a recipe we created after being inspired by watching many, many fancy cooking competition shows. There always tends to be a ‘fish’ challenge or two on these types of shows (eg: Masterchef). The dishes always look so sophisticated and pretty, so after a bit of research and some trial and error – we came up with this phenomenal Pan-Fried Cod with Butter Sauce recipe

Creating a delicious Butter Beurre Blanc Sauce

Anyone who knows seafood understands Butter is one of Fishes best friends. The fattiness and creaminess of Butter pairs well with a delicate piece of beautifully cooked dish. Our Pan-Fried Cod with Butter Sauce recipe is, of course, no exception

For this dish the classic French Beurre Blanc sauce is the star, along with that beautiful piece of Cod. Beurre Blanc is French for White Butter because, you guessed it – the sauces primary components are White Wine and Butter!

The cooking process for a Beurre Blanc is quite simple, the only catch is you need to pay close attention to it. The process involves cooking down Shallots, adding White Wine, burning off the alcohol then slowly adding Butter into the mixture to ‘emulsify’ it

 Emulsifying the Butter into the sauce is a fancy way of saying ‘to combine’. The trick with this sauce is you need to add the Butter slowly, and continuously stir it at a low temperature otherwise the sauce will break. Which means the Butter will separate and it will not be a pleasant texture or taste

Our recipe sways a little bit from the purely traditional Beurre Blanc Sauce, as we add Heavy Cream to the mixture. The Heavy Cream adds more body to the sauce, so you get a slightly thicker overall finish. Which is a perfect consistency for that lovely piece of Cod to be swimming in

The best flaky white Fish to serve with a Beurre Blanc Butter Sauce

There are many great options when it comes to delicious white Fish to pair with a Butter Sauce. From Halibut, Chilean Sea Bass, Monkfish, to Cod. All great options and if you can get your hands on a lovely filet of any of these Fish you will be eating well!

We’ve opted for Cod for this recipe for a few reasons. It is a relatively forgivable fish to cook compared to a Halibut or Chilean Sea Bass. Those pieces of Fish require absolute razor-sharp cooking times. We find Cod allows a bit more flexibility where you can slightly over / undercook it and it will still be juicy and tasty. This is great for home cooking, and particularly helpful given this recipe requires multitasking of cooking the Fish at the same time as the Beurre Blanc Sauce

Monkfish is also a great option; however, it isn’t typically prepared by cooking the skin. We love a good crispy skin on a piece of Fish which is why we’ve opted for Cod. Having that crispy skin adds some beautiful texture to the overall dish. Not only that, but it also tastes great!

Squeegee the Fish skin before cooking to ensure a crispy result

There is a lovely little trick to guarantee Crispy fish skin on your Cod, and that is to ‘squeegee’ the skin. Simply scrape the back of a knife across the surface of the skin several times to remove the outer oily layer of gunk. Repeat this for the dish until the gunk is completely removed, pat dry then season with a little salt

The addition of Salt dries out the skin so when pan fried on a high temperature, you’re going to get beautiful crispy skin. This trick works on a lot of different pieces of fish too, so try it out. We use it a lot on our Seafood recipes

Pan Fried Cod with Butter Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 Cod Filets, skin on
• 330g / 1 ½ Cups Cold Butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
• ½ Shallot, finely diced
• ¼ cup Heavy Cream
• ¼ cup White Wine
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
• 8 spears of Chinese Broccoli or Asparagus
• 1 tbsp. Chives, chopped
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Prepare the Fish skin by carefully scraping the back of a knife across the skin several times to remove the slimy fish gunk. Continue until all has removed, then sprinkle the skin with ½ tsp. of Salt. This process will ensure the skin goes crispy when pan fried
2. Add the Shallots into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute then add the White Wine. Cook until the wine has burnt off the alcohol and reduced by about ½
3. Add the Heavy Cream and bring mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, then drop the heat to low
4. Slowly add the Cold Butter piece by piece while continuously whisking. Ensure the Butter has completely melted before adding the next piece. Continue until all pieces are added and has completely emulsified into the Sauce
   
   

Note: You can keep the sauce on a low heat, stirring occasionally while you prepare your Fish and vegetables. Be sure to keep a close eye on the Sauce as you are cooking the Fish

5. Add the Vegetable Oil into a large frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, place both pieces of Fish into the center of the pan, skin side down
6. Cook the fish for 6-7 minutes skin side down. Once the Skin is completely cooked it will easily be able to be flipped. If it’s not fully cooked it will stick to the pan, so just be patient!
7. Flip the fish and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the internal temperature is 130 degrees. Remove from heat, then set aside to rest
8. Steam the vegetables by placing them into the frying pan, adding a little bit of water then covering them with a lid. Steam for 2-3 minutes, season with 1 tsp. of Salt and they’ll be done
9. To plate, add the Vegetables onto the middle of the plate, placing the fish on top. Drizzle the sauce around the outside of the plate. Avoid pouring the sauce directly onto the fish to keep the skin crispy. Finish by adding the chopped Chives and a Flaky Finishing Salt
   
   

We hope you enjoyed this Pan Fried Cod with Butter Sauce recipe. It’s a fun one to make and tastes delicious!

Check out some of our amazing Side Dish Recipes for some fun dishes to pair with this beautiful Fish dish

Happy Cooking!