Oven-baked butterfish with lemon butter

Butterfish is a good catch, although apparently it’s a tricky one for anglers to pin down. On South African restaurant menus, “butterfish” is most commonly the two-tone fingerfish, which swims off our entire coastline from KwaZulu-Natal to the Northern Cape. They’re delicious, and ideal for baking in the oven.

The fish known as butterfish in the US is a different species altogether, and smaller, according to my friend in Chicago who knows about these things.

I found a beautiful side of frozen butterfish – filleted – in a freezer at Durbanville Market, took it home and defrosted it in the fridge over many hours. I’m not averse to cooking frozen fish – crumbed hake fillets can go straight from the freezer into the oven or pan – but in this instance I chose to thaw it first.

Fish that has been frozen retains water, so it needs to be dabbed with a dry, clean cloth or kitchen paper to soak up excess water. I then placed it on a plate and put it back in the fridge for a couple of hours, to “fridge-dry” it, which helps firm up the texture of the flesh.

Butter and lemon couldn’t be more ideal for this fish (well, almost any fish), so that’s where we went with this. It weighed 700g, perfect for two generous portions.

I finished it with cream and chopped parsley.

Tony’s oven-baked butterfish with lemon butter

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

1 x 700 g butterfish fillet

Grated zest of 1 lemon

150 g butter

100 ml fresh cream

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

Salt

White pepper

Method

Start a few hours ahead. Make sure the fish is completely thawed, then use a clean cloth or kitchen paper to dab it to get rid of excess water. Put it on a plate in the fridge for three hours or so.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Pour half of it into a metal oven pan and tilt the pan to make the butter run from edge to edge.

Grate the lemon zest over the butter in the pan.

Reserve the rest of the butter.

Season the fish lightly on both sides with salt and white pepper.

Place it in the pan and spoon some of the butter surrounding the fish over the top.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 180°C (depending on how thick the fillet is; mine was substantial).

Stir the cream into the remaining butter and pour it over the fish.

Return it to the oven, on the grill setting, for 10 minutes or until the top of the fish has browned here and there.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving with the sauce spooned over the fish.

I served it with crispy potato wedges and lemon. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.