Sautéed Flounder with Fresh Pipis  .   Greg Taylor's Fish Batter Recipe  .   Lorraine's Pan-fried Flounder  .   Aotea Patiki with Asian Sauce

Sauteed Flounder w/ Fresh Pipis cooked in White Wine, Herbs and Garlic

Serves 8  Main course

Step 1.

Pipi Preparation

Ingredients:

-  Allow 30-40 Pipi's per serve ( purged in salt for at least 12 hours )

1 and a half Cup White Wine
2  Cups Chicken Stock
1/2 Tbl  Garlic
100g  Butter
1/4 Cup  Fresh Basil
3 Tbl  Fresh Tarragon

Method:

In a large saucepan add the pipis, white wine, chicken stock, garlic and butter. Place a lid on the saucepan and put onto high heat. Check after 5-7 minutes, and if the shells are beginning to open add the fresh herbs. Place the lid back on and give them a good shake up. Finish cooking for a couple more minutes and hold.

Step 2.

Flounder Preparation and cooking

Ingredients:

8 x  Flounder
-    Salt & Pepper
-    Flour
-    Cooking Oil
-    Butter

Method:

To prep the flounder, hold the tail with one hand, then take your other hand and using your thumb, carefully edge it between the top skin (dark skin) and the flesh. It should start to come away, then holding the tail securely pull the skin back towards the head and remove, exposing the top fillet. If the guts haven't been taken out remove those also.

To cook the flounder, heat up a skillet, fry pan or flat top to medium heat. Season the flounders with salt and pepper then dredge with flour and pat any excess off, leaving a fine layer on the fish. Add cooking oil, then butter to the pan and cook each flounder until golden on each side. For a regular size flounder 3-4 minutes on either side should be ample. Keep the flounder warm until all are cooked.

Step 3

Plating and serving

Method:

Serve the flounder on a flat plate, top with pipis and spoon over some broth. Have plenty of handy towels at the ready, as extracting the pipis from their shells and removing the middle bone frame from the flounder is finger lickin' fun. Having a good loaf of bread to mop up the pipi broth is a great idea!

Ingredients:

Flour
Water
Baking soda
Ice cold Water

Method:

Make a very light batter mix from flour and water, so that it's almost water again, then add a dash of baking soda.

In the shop we make it with 3 good cups of flour, 1 beer jug of water, plus about a quarter of a teaspoon of baking soda.

The secret its to use ice cold water - when the batter hits the vat it fluffs up a lot better.

Lorraine's Pan-fried Flounder

Ingredients:

Whole flounder Flour Dripping

Method:

Wash and dry whole flounder. Dust lightly on both sides with flour. Using dripping, heat pan until fairly hot. Cook until flesh is milky white. Turn and cook other side. Approx. 5-6 mins on each side.

Aotea Patiki with Asian Sauce

[Simple, sweet clean flavours using readily available ingredients from the kitchen .... and Aotea harbour]

Ingredients:

Fresh flounder - gutted and tail cut off
Flour
Oil
Onion - finely chopped
Ginger
Garlic
Dark soy sauce
Brown sugar

Method:

Score the flounder and lightly coat with flour (and salt if desired). Cook both sides in a generous amount of oil. Remove when cooked (meat should be white and peel easily off the bone). Reserve oil. Clean wok.

Pour the oil back into the wok. Cook onion until soft then add garlic and ginger.
Pour in a generous amount of soy sauce and heat through. Add brown sugar - quantity is to taste and enough to caramelise the sauce.

Pour the sauce over the flounder and serve.

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