Skin the soles on both the dark and the white side (or buy them skinned), trim off the fins, rinse and dry thoroughly. Chop the parsley, dip it into boiling water for a few seconds, drain and squeeze dry.

Ingredients

• 600 gFish, flatfish (flounder and sole species), raw
• 2 gSalt, table
• 0.4 gSpices, pepper, black
• 40 gWheat flour, white, all-purpose, unenriched
• 30 gButter, without salt
• 2 5 ml teaspoonLemon juice, raw
• 4 gParsley, fresh
• 60 gButter, without salt

Method

1. Skin the soles on both the dark and the white side (or buy them skinned), trim off the fins, rinse and dry thoroughly. Chop the parsley, dip it into boiling water for a few seconds, drain and squeeze dry.
2. Season the fish with salt and pepper and dredge them in flour just before frying; shake off the excess.
3. In two large frying pans (or in batches), heat the butter until it stops foaming and is very hot; for larger fish use clarified butter, which browns less. Fry the fish for 4 minutes until golden, turn them over and fry for 3–4 minutes until the flesh at the thickest part comes away from the bone.
4. Transfer the fish to warmed plates, sprinkle with 2 tsp of lemon juice and scatter over the blanched parsley. Pour the fat out of the pan and wipe it clean.
5. Put the fresh butter into the pan and heat it until it foams, turns hazelnut brown and smells nutty (about 2 minutes); do not let it blacken. Pour it over the fish at once while still foaming and serve immediately. Without the brown butter, served only with lemon halves, the dish is called “sole dorée”.