CookEat Recipe
Fish in Sweet-Sour Marinade
Fried sole dressed with a hot sweet-sour marinade of vinegar, grape-must syrup, sage, pine nuts, currants and candied peel, then chilled.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 600 g cleaned small sole, ready for frying; About 150 ml olive oil for shallow-frying, as needed for the pan; 250 ml wine vinegar; 60 ml ready-to-use sapa, a cooked grape-must syrup; sugar may replace it as described below; 6 whole sage leaves; 20 g pine nuts; 20 g dried Zante currants, small seedless dried grapes; 2 garlic cloves, cut in half crosswise; 20 g candied citrus peel, cut into small pieces; Salt.
Step 2
Have the sole cleaned and prepared by the fishmonger. Pat thoroughly dry. Heat enough olive oil for shallow-frying in a broad pan and fry the fish in batches until lightly browned and at least 70°C in the thickest flesh, about 3–5 minutes per side depending on thickness. Drain and salt lightly.
Step 3
Put the vinegar, ready-to-use sapa, whole sage leaves, pine nuts, currants, halved garlic and small candied-peel pieces in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 2 minutes. Taste the marinade before it contacts the fish and adjust its sweetness if needed. If sapa is unavailable, start with about 30 g sugar instead and add a little more only if the vinegar remains too sharp.
Step 4
Arrange the cooked fish in a snug shallow non-reactive pan or flame-safe glazed earthenware dish. Pour the hot marinade over it, distributing the flavouring ingredients and making sure the liquid reaches around every piece. Bring back briefly to a simmer.
Step 5
Transfer promptly to shallow containers if needed for cooling. Refrigerate at 4°C or colder as soon as steaming stops and within 2 hours of cooking; leave loosely covered until cold, then cover. Chill for about 2 hours before serving. This is a refrigerated dish, not a shelf-stable preserve.
Step 6
Serve only the amount needed, spooning over some marinade together with its pine nuts, currants, sage and candied peel. Keep the remainder refrigerated and eat within 2–3 days, or freeze it. Do not extend storage by adding fresh marinade or repeatedly topping up an old batch.
Step 7
For the eel version, replace the sole with 600 g professionally gutted food-grade eel, skin on, cut crosswise into pieces about 1–2 cm long. Omit the frying oil. Cook on a clean grill or under a grill on a rack over a tray, turning, for about 10–15 minutes or as needed until excess fat has rendered and every piece reaches at least 70°C. Season with salt and black pepper after the fat has rendered, then follow the same hot marinade and prompt refrigeration method.
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