Petrale Sole

Cosidered the premium flat fish on the U.S. West Coast, petrale is expensive and often unavailable. Being a fan of mackerels, scads, fusiliers and catfish I consider it overpriced, but for people of "refined taste" who like their fish mild and tender it's held in high regard.

Petrale flesh cooks white with just a touch of color along the outside centerline. It's mild in flavor, very tender and flaky. It makes a good substitute for European sole (see Dover Sole but keep the cooking simple and the sauces unagressive or you might as well save your money and buy a sea bass.

Petrale sole is one of the easiest fish to fillet. It's conveniently large, the bones are large and there's plenty of them for the knife to follow. The 3.6 pound (cleaned) fish in the photo yielded 2 pounds of skinless fillets (56%) and discounting the fin margins which tend to come loose during skinning that's another 2 oz for 52%, which is still a decent yield. Those fin margins are gelatenous and stronger in flavor so toss them into the soup pot with the head and bones.

The skin has very moderate shrinkage so fillets could be fried skin-on, but that just isn't done with petrale. The skin is quite tough so can be easily removed with a long knife and cutting board - toss it in with the head and bones for soup stock. The stock made from this fish is moderate in flavor but a bit yellowish in color.

Petrale is often pan fried, slowly in butter, or broiled. It can be steamed but the pieces should be kept moderate or it will break up in handling. Steamed it's very tender and flaky, but I consider it a little dry in flavor, some butter would help.

Petrale works very nicely Poached in Court Bouillon and that's my recommendation for how to cook it - with my Court Bouillon #3. Again, keep the portions manageable so you don't break up this delicate fish, and keep the saucing simple or you're wasting money.

Method

1. Petrale is covered with very small but tightly adhering scales which are difficult to remove. After an initial scraping with the back of the kitchen knife I "shave" the fish with the sharp edge at a shallow angle to remove all the scales. It does have scales on the bottom side too.
2. If your fish has not been cleaned, make a short incision behind the head near the bottom of the blind (white) side and pull out the innards.
3. Make the usual cuts to free the fillet at the head end, then make a deep cut all the way to the spine along the centerline. Make a shallow cut along each edge just inside of the fins to free the edge of the fillet.
4. Working from the centerline outward, fillet the fish following the bones and then the fin rays. until you get to the edge. Be careful to stay on the right side of the fin rays, particularly when filleting the blind side.
5. You should now have a nice pile of thick fillets and a "see-through" fish.
6. The skin is tough and not stuck down hard so skinning the fillets using a long knife and cutting board is easy.
7. Cut up the remains, put in a pot and cover with water. Simmer a half hour or so for stock for your next fish soup.