Our annual survey of seafood in Southeast Louisiana this year counts down the 33 best seafood species enjoyed in our restaurants, seafood markets, and homes. For the full survey so far, click here. Or use the links at the bottom to move up and down the list.
#17: Flounder
Fresh Gulf Coast flounder is misunderstood and under-appreciated. Except among its fans, for whom the thought of a whole broiled or fried flounder is highly appetizing. For the few restaurants that specialize in it, it's the biggest-selling dish in the house. Its fans know where to go, and those who aren't fans are usually converted by the first experience.
But flounder fans are in hard times. Not many restaurants serve the fish--at least not in the old whole-fish, West End style. The reason: there aren't enough fans, and the market is in balance. Many restaurants used to offer flounder, but didn't actually sell it. Instead, they sold some anonymous white, frozen fish. This is still common practice along the Gulf Coast. (The farther east you go, the worse the problem gets.)
Another deterrent for most diners is what flounder fans consider its greatest merit: it seems to have been created to be cooked whole. It certainly tastes best that way. But a lot shy eaters (who outnumber us gourmets by a factor of around a hundred to one) are put off by whole fish. Those millions of little free-floating bones around the perimeter are an issue. Experienced eaters can get through those, but newbies might get a mouthful of bones.
Flounder is lower in fat than any seafood we eat. This fact accounts for its subtlety of flavor. I find it has a slight nuttiness that's delicious. It may be the ultimate fish for preparing amandine style. It's good with any variation on butter sauce, particularly those involving lemon.
You can bake or fry flounder well, but to my mind the ultimate method is to broil it. This is, as I mentioned, best done with the fish cleaned but otherwise whole. All you need do is butter the pan, cut some diagonal scores in the skin on top, season and butter it, and run it under the broiler until the skin is crisp and the flesh is popping out. What a sight! For fish lovers, the promise is fulfilled.
Overpriced Alternative. I was having lunch with a couple of very knowledgeable food people in the restaurant of a chef we all knew well. The chef told us that the best dish he had that day was a whole Mississippi Gulf Coast flounder. But, he added, he'd cook fresh imported Dover sole for us the same way as the flounder if we wanted. He said he'd even let us have the sole art the flounder price. The three of us looked at one another for reactions. Dover sole is typically served for two people. One of my lunchmates said, "I'd rather have the flounder." The other agreed with that idea, so I (a young man without enough knowledge then) went along with the plan. We were all glad we did. Dover sole is famous, but local flounder in season tastes better.
Whole Flounder Stuffed With Crabmeat
Bruning's opened at West End Park in 1859, and remained popular and excellent, run by the same family, until it and everything else at West End were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Bruning's great specialty was stuffed whole flounder. The restaurant may be gone (although maybe not forever), but the dish lives on. Use the biggest flounders you can find. (Fishermen refer to those as "doormats.") I use claw crabmeat for the stuffing, because it has a more pronounced taste.
- Stuffing:
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 3 cups shrimp stock
- 1 lb. claw crabmeat (or crawfish in season)
- 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Pinch cayenne
- 4 large whole flounders
- 1 Tbs. salt-free Creole seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup clarified butter
- 1 lemon, sliced
- Chopped fresh parsley
1. Make the stuffing first. Melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a blond roux. Stir in the green onions and cook until limp. Whisk in the shrimp stock and Worcestershire and bring to a boil, then add the crabmeat, salt, and cayenne. Gently toss the crabmeat in the sauce to avoid breaking the lumps.
2. Wash the flounders and pat dry. Mix the Creole seasoning and salt into the flour and coat the outside of the flounders with it. Mix the eggs and milk together in a wide bowl and pass the fish through it, then dredge in the seasoned flour again.
3. Heat the clarified butter in a skillet and sauté the fish, one at a time, about four minutes on each side, turning once. Remove and keep warm.
4. Cut a slit from head to tail across the top of the flounder. Divide stuffing among the fish, spooning inside the slit and piling it on top. Place the flounders on a baking pan and put into a preheated 400-degree oven for six minutes.
5. Place the flounders on hot plates. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh chopped parsley.
Serves four to eight.
