Crispy Skin Snapper with Fish Beurre Blanc

Every once in a while it’s fun to show off with your home cooking and make something truly spectacular. This is the dish for that time! Our amazing Crispy Skin Snapper with Fish Beurre Blanc hits all the notes of a classic restaurant-quality Fish dish. It looks stunning on the plate, and there are loads of cooking techniques that go into this dish. Surprisingly, it’s a very easy dish to make. The only trick, like a lot of cooking, is patience. In this recipe we’ll walk you through how to make this wonderful Snapper recipe from scratch

There are several components to making this dish

When making this Crispy Skin Snapper with Fish Beurre Blanc dish at home, there are three main components / elements to the dish. All in all, you will need about 2 hours to make the recipe. So this is definitely not a weeknight dish, instead one to try on a weekend where you’ve got a bit of time

The three components to the recipe are:

• Making a White Fish Stock
• Turning that Stock into a Beurre Blanc
• Preparing and cooking the Fish
  
  

We’ll walk you through each of these three components in detail so you can produce this wonderful meal at home

Making a White Fish Stock

The cornerstone to any great dish is a good sauce, and all good sauces start with a great Stock. For this dish we use a White Fish Stock, which is a classic French Stock developed by using the bones of White Fish. Unlike other stocks, the bones aren’t roasted, instead are soaked in cold water to remove any blood before it is added to a big stock pot along with vegetables and aromatics

You can use any White Fish Bones you like, and if you’re lucky you may even be able to get your hands on them for free form your local grocery store or Fish Monger. If you can, try to get some Snapper Bones. Given we’ll be using Snapper as the Fish, it makes sense to use Snapper Bones. However, any White Fish Bones will do

Once cleaned, the bones are added to a stock pot filled with Carrots, Leeks, Celery, Fennel (either the vegetable or the seeds) along with enough water to cover it all. Bring it to a gentle boil and remove the foamy bits that will appear on the surface

After about 45 minutes add the Parsley and remove it from the heat. Let it sit for a few minutes and then strain the liquid and place it back into a saucepan. Continue to cook it for a further 30 minutes to reduce the Stock into a more concentrated flavor. This will then be used as the base for our Beurre Blanc

White Fish Stock is an amazing ingredient, and one you can make so many wonderful recipes from. Check out our dedicated article on White Fish Stock to learn more about this amazing ingredient

Turning the Stock into a Beurre Blanc

A Beurre Blanc is a classic French Sauce made with White Wine and Butter. It’s very easy to make and is perfect to enjoy with Seafood. While your Fish Stock is reducing, fire up another saucepan and cook some finely diced Shallots with White Vinegar

Once the Vinegar has all but dissolved, add in some White Wine and Leeks. Let them all cook down and allow the White Wine to reduce by about half. Then add the reduced Fish Stock and give it a good mix through. You can leave the sauce at this stage and re-heat it right before you’re ready to serve, which allows you to cook the Fish

To finish the Sauce, the final step is to add loads of Butter. The Butter needs to be chilled, and you’ll need to add it gradually, while whisking. This will allow the Butter to ‘emulsify’ into the sauce, making a wonderful creamy, silky-smooth Beurre Blanc that tastes amazing!

Preparing and cooking the Fish

The key to making the Snapper skin beautiful and crispy is ensuring it is as dry as possible before cooking. The best way to do this is with Salt. Salt will extract the moisture out of the skin, helping the skin to go crispy once cooked

Simply add a generous amount of Salt to the Snapper Skin and leave it for about 30 minutes. Then, wipe the moisture from the Skin and repeat this process. You can do this 3 – 4 times if you like, it depends how much time (and patience!) you have!

Heat a pan with a little bit of Oil over medium heat and then place the Snapper skin-side down on the pan. Press firmly on the flesh of the Snapper to ensure all the skin gets good contact with the pan. I like to do this constantly throughout the cook, as the fish will tend to ‘warp’ a little bit as it cooks, and the skin begins to tighten

The cook time will depend on the thickness of the Snapper, but for a 4 oz. piece of Fish I’d suggest about 5 minutes on the skin and then flip it over for 2 – 3 more minutes on the flesh side. Once the sides of the fish turn white (losing their translucent color), it’s done!

Plating the Crispy Skin Snapper

The final step is plating, and where this dish really does begin to shine. Once your Snapper is cooked and resting, finish your Sauce off by adding the butter and emulsifying. Add some Lemon Juice and some Salt to the Sauce and give it a taste. Once it’s to your liking, plate a generous amount onto a plate

Top a piece of Snapper right over the top of the Sauce. Ensure the Skin is facing upwards so you can show off that wonderful, crispy skin. Finish the dish with some flaky Sea Salt and then serve along with a few Lemon Wedges and enjoy!

Crispy Skin Snapper with Fish Beurre Blanc Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 5 oz. Snapper Filets, skin on
• 2 lbs. White Fish Bones
• 1 Fennel, roughly chopped (can replace with Fennel seeds)
• 2 Leeks
• 2 Carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 Celery Stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 cup of Parsley, roughly torn
• Water
• 2 Shallots, finely diced
• ¼ cup White Vinegar
• 1 cup White Wine
• 1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

Begin by making a White Fish Stock

1. Soak your Fish Bones in cold water to remove any blood for 1 hour. Remove and place Bones into a large pot along with the Fennel, 1 Leek, Carrots, Celery and enough water to fully cover
2. Bring to a gentle boil for 45 minutes, skimming the surface of any foam that bubbles to the top
3. Add the Parsley and remove from heat. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes, then strain, discarding everything other than the liquid
4. Place the strained liquid into a saucepan over medium heat and cook for 30 minutes to reduce
   
   

Preparing the Snapper

5. While the Stock is cooking, generously Salt the skin of the Snapper. After 30 minutes, wipe away the moisture from the skin and repeat this process 1 – 2 more times
   
   

Preparing the Fish Beurre Blanc

6. Cook the Shallots with White Vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat until the Vinegar has all but dissolved
7. Add the White Wine and Shallots and cook for 5 minutes, then add the reduced White Fish Stock and mix well
8. Allow everything to cook through until the Leeks are tender, then remove from heat. We will add the Butter once the Snapper is resting
   
   

Cooking the Snapper and Plating

9. Heat the Vegetable Oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, place the Snapper pieces skin-side down on the pan. Press firmly on the Snapper to ensure a good, consistent contact with the pan
10. Cook for 5 minutes, continuously pressing down on the flesh. Season the flesh side and then flip and cook for 2 – 3 more minutes until white and flaky then set aside to rest
11. Finish the Beurre Blanc by gradually whisking in the cold Butter over low heat until emulsified. Add Lemon Juice and season with Salt before serving
12. Serve a few spoonful’s of Sauce into a plate, top with the cooked Snapper and finish with Flaky Sea Salt. Serve with Lemon Wedges
    
    

Recipe Notes

• Cooking time of the Snapper may vary based on the size of the filets
• You can replace the Leeks with Onions
  
  

When it’s time to get a little ‘showy’ in the kitchen there are no better recipes to cook than this wonderful Crispy Skin Snapper with Fish Beurre Blanc. The flavors in the Sauce and amazing textures of that perfectly cooked piece of Fish are sure to impress everyone!

For more restaurant-quality dishes, we recommend checking out these other recipes of ours:

• Crispy Porchetta with Fennel and Herbs
• Duck a L’Orange
• Brown Butter Sage Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Goats Cheese
• Red Snapper with Butter Tartare Sauce
  
  

Happy Cooking!