Flounder Fillet with Shrimp Sauce

About the dish

From the fish chapter of Henriette Schønberg Erken's Stor kokebok (1914). A festive flounder dish where trimmings and bones are used for an aromatic fish stock, which in turn flavors a rich shrimp sauce — a good example of the era's complete use of the raw ingredient.

How to make it

1. 1

   Filleting

   Cut the fillets from the flounder. Save the bones and skin for the stock.

2. 2

   Fish stock

   Place the butter in the bottom of a pot, then the onion, parsley, and fish bones/skin. Drizzle the lemon juice over. Put on a lid and set the pot over low heat; shake often.

3. 3

   Simmer the stock

   Pour in the white wine and let it cook 5 minutes without a lid. Add the cold water, bring to a boil, and let the stock simmer at low heat for 20 minutes. Strain.

4. 4

   Bake the fillets

   Place the fillets together in a well-greased, ovenproof dish, sprinkle with salt, and pour on just enough strained fish stock to cover. Put a lid over (not paper) and set the dish in a hot oven (about 200 °C (390 °F)) for 25–30 minutes.

5. 5

   Sauce base

   Stir the butter and flour together for a quarter of an hour without browning. When the roux is nearly cold, thin with the boiling milk seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped onion.

6. 6

   Cook the sauce

   Add the small-cut veal and let everything cook 15–30 minutes. Strain the sauce.

7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Add the cream and 1 dl fish bouillon and let the sauce cook 20 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the shrimp butter and cleaned shrimp.

8. 8

   Arrangement

   Arrange the fillets in a ring on a warm platter, so each one overlaps the next a little. Fill the center with cleaned shrimp and cover the whole with the shrimp sauce.