In the carnival of high technique at Le Bernardin,
there are many dishes you’d never try to re-create.But the cooks on the line use a surprisingly simple method to get seared fish with a taut, golden skin that won’t get pushed to the side of the plate.
The secret is Wondra flour, usually
heralded for its use in clumpless gravies and sauces. It’s known more
generically as instant flour, because it’s been pre-cooked and dried using a
“patented agglomeration process,” which leaves it with a fine, slightly gritty
texture reminiscent of cornmeal. Some malted barley flour is thrown in, too. All
of this means that it’s more prone to beautiful browning and crisping than
regular all-purpose flour.
Despite its scary casserole-era packaging, it turns
out that Wondra has long been a favorite of Julia Child (for crepe
batter), Jacques Pépin (for chicken cutlets), David
Bouley (for dusting anything pan-fried), and Le Bernardin’s gleaming star chef,
Eric Ripert. Ripert has been known to use Wondra on everything
from monkfish loins to soft-shell crab, but it’s especially good for bringing
out the beauty of skin-on fillets of fish like salmon or striped
bass.
Serves 4
About 1 tablespoon canola oil
(enough to coat the bottom of the pan)
4 (6-ounce/170g) skin-on fish
fillets (like striped bass or salmon)
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground white pepper (black
is fine too, if you don’t mind the speckles)
Wondra flour, for
dusting
1 Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2 Heat the oil in a large oven- and flame-proof sauté
pan on the stovetop until the oil is very hot, but not smoking.
3 Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper
and dust with Wondra flour. Blow off the excess. Put the fish in the pan, skin
side down, and press down on the fish with a spatula. (The skin immediately
contracts and buckles, but you want to keep it all in contact with the pan for
maximum crisping.) Sear on the stovetop over medium heat until golden brown on
the bottom, about 3 minutes.
4 Turn the fish over, put the pan in the oven, and
roast for another 2 to 3 minutes, until a metal skewer can be easily inserted
into the center of the fillet and, if left for 5 seconds, feels just warm when
touched to your lip. Serve immediately.
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