How to make fish with lemon, butter & capers
When you’re looking to impress someone coming over for dinner but the thought of endless shopping lists, dishes pilled up in the sink and too many fancy ingredients you can’t pronounce really isn’t your thing, just cook this. Barramundi (or any white fish really) with a lemon butter caper sauce is one of those fail-safe recipes, it only takes 10 minutes to whip up and paired with some crispy roast potatoes and fresh steamed greens will have your guests thinking you’ve spent hours cooking.
Lemon butter caper sauce
While this is, as I say, a ‘fail-safe’ recipe, there are a few secrets that will be the difference between the lemon butter caper sauce tasting meh to hell yeah. It’s been repeated time and time, but it really can’t be understated; it’s the quality of your ingredients that matters. The same goes for capers, please, please, please, I can not emphasize this enough, do not use those cheap gross briny capers from the supermarket to make this dish. Invest in good quality small french style salted capers like those from the essential ingredient; they’ll last for ages. And of course, the butter follows the same rules; make sure you use a nice cultured salted butter.
What are capers
What are capers, and why do I care so much about you buying good quality ones? They are the immature flower buds from Capparis shrubs that grow all over the Mediterranean. Capers have a sharp taste and offer a nice salty flavour to dishes. Use them as a hero ingredient like in this lemon butter caper sauce or seasoning.
Why do white fish and lemon butter caper sauce work so well?
Whitefish has a subtle flavour compared to oily fish like salmon, trout and herring, making it the perfect carrier for strong classic french style sauces. It really allows the effort of choosing quality butter, lemon and capers to shine. If you can’t get your hands on barramundi for this recipe, then snapper, ling or any white fish will work well.
Barramundi with lemon butter caper sauce
Ingredients
- 2 fillets Barramundi
- 1 lemon
- 100 g butter salted
- 2 tbsp capers salted
- 1 clove garlic peeled and smashed
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat
- Season fish and place skin side down on the hot pan, press down firmly with a spatula or meat weight. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side and remove from the pan
- In the same pan add butter and cook for 1-2 minutes until brown. Add olive oil, garlic and capers. Fry for another 1-2 minutes before adding a squeeze of lemon, taste and season before pouring on to the crispy skinned fish
- Serve with roasted potatoes and fresh steamed greens
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