whats the simplest way to prepare/cook a whole plaice ?

Inigo_Montoya

as per title

I bought a whole plaice at Asda (as it was reduced to just 10p) but not entirely sure what to do with it

Am i correct in thinking this has already been gutted which means I could just trim off the fins & tail & fry/cook whole ?

No need to skin it first ? or remove the head ? or debone ? or create fillets & cook those instead ?

Never done any fish preperation before so need the simplest thing I can do with it

redfox

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jm2926

I would just scrape the scales with a knife off and bung it in the oven -

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/09/river-cottages-whole-plaice-with-cherry-tomat.html

meritaten

I usually just remove the fins, dust it lightly with flour and shallow fry in butter. but I have done it without the flour and its been just as nice.


If in doubt as to how to cook a fish - you cannot go wrong if you wrap in parchment/baking paper, stick a pat of butter in the inside and some salt and pepper and bake in the oven.

Mazzarati2000

We're fortunate enough to be furnished with 'caught-that-day' plaice every so often when f-i-l has been out on his boat, and I generally fry them whole in butter and then add either garlic or lemon to the butter in the pan and drizzle over the cooked fish. I hate fish bones, but happily eat plaice whole as the skeleton comes out very cleanly if you're careful ( peel skin and tease the fish of the top, then lift the bones out in one go and continue enjoying the rest of the fish).

Quite agree with Meritaten re 'en-papillotte' being a great, tasty fail-safe way with fish generally.

Enjoy your bargain!