Pan-fried rainbow trout is a personal favourite! Especially when paired with potatoes, polenta, and a garlicky sauce, it's a meal I love. I recommend this recipe to all fish lovers who want to try a new menu idea for dinner or to impress guests or family.
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Rainbow trout reigns supreme as the most common freshwater fish in hypermarkets! While it has more bones than some fish, its delicious meat makes it a worthwhile choice.
Pan-fried rainbow trout with polenta and garlic sauce is a classic Transylvanian and Romanian dish. In fact, you'll see it on menus at most restaurants throughout the region. That's why I thought I would show you my version of this recipe.
Few Ingredients
The trout you buy from the trade usually comes from fish farms, and from all the varieties of trout that exist, today, I chose the rainbow trout, a very tasty species. I usually buy fish depending on the number of portions I want to cook. For one person, there is a fish of 250-300 g, so I will cook four fish for four people.
To be crispy on the outside, the fish cooked in the pan must be rolled in flour beforehand. This can be done in wheat flour, cornflour or a combination of the two, which is also my version. So I need two tablespoons of wheat flour and two tablespoons of coarse corn flour.
For the garlic sauce, which is a cold sauce, I will need four cloves of garlic, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, lemon juice and a little water.
How to Make the Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout Recipe?
Preparing the Trout
Trout are found in different ways for sale, whole with head and tail, eviscerated, only trunk or fillets. I bought the whole trout with head and tail, which I cleaned of scales, eviscerated and cut off their heads.
Usually, at restaurants where smaller fish are served, they are fried with their heads, but I cut off their heads because my fish was bigger and didn't fit in my pan.
With a sharp knife, I made a few notches on the thicker side of the fish. Then I seasoned the fish with a teaspoon of sea salt and a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper and massaged them well to enter the notches.
Mix the two types of flour and roll the fish through it to cover all the parts well, then gently shake off the excess flour.
Frying the Trout
In a non-stick pan, I heated about 100 ml of sunflower oil (you can also use olive oil) and a tablespoon of butter, after which, when it was quite hot, we fried the fish.
I chose a medium-sized pan where I will fry two fish at once, at medium temperature, for 3-4 minutes, after which we turn them on the other side.
Finding the perfect temperature is key here. Too high, and the fish burns on the outside while staying raw in the center. Too low, and it gets soggy in oil instead of achieving a crispy finish.
I fried them for about 3-4 minutes on the other side until they got a golden colour and were crispy on the outside, and then I took them out in a pan and continued with the other fish.
While the fish is frying, I will make the garlic sauce. For this, I will put the garlic cloves and a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt in a mortar.
Crush well with the pestle and gradually add a tablespoon of oil and a quarter of a teaspoon of freshly ground pepper mix until you get a garlic paste.
I added a teaspoon of lemon juice and about two tablespoons of water to get a slightly more fluid consistency, and then I poured the sauce into a serving bowl.
This was my pan-fried rainbow trout recipe in my version, ready to serve while it is still hot and because we are very hungry.
Serving the Fish
Transylvanian pan-fried rainbow trout traditionally comes with polenta and this delicious garlic sauce. But feel free to enjoy it with your favourite sides like French fries, mashed potatoes, or rice! I preferred a simpler option, fried garlic bread with herbs and some lemon slices, which is so good!
Who's trying my pan-fried rainbow trout recipe will put this recipe on your list of favourite dinner menus as well as other pan-fried recipes on our blog, such as:
- Fried Pork Liver Recipe
- Easy Pan-Fried Steak Recipe
- Fried Breaded Pork Chops Recipe
- Honey and Garlic Chicken Wings Recipe
- Pork Steak-With Fries, Salads and Garlic Sauce
- King Prawn Noodles Recipe
- Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon
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Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 4 pieces rainbow trout fresh, whole
- 1 teaspoon sea salt kosher
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper freshly ground
- 2 tablespoon cornflour coarse
- 2 tablespoon wheat flour
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon butter unsalted
Garlic Sauce
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt kosher
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Clean the fish of scales, eviscerate and cut off the head. Made a few notches on the thicker side of the fish, then season the fish with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and massage them well to enter the notches.
- Mix the two types of flour and roll the fish through it to cover all the parts well, then gently shake off the excess flour.
- In a non-stick pan, heat the sunflower oil and the butter, after which when it is quite hot put to fry the fish.
- Fry two fish at once, at medium temperature, 3-4 minutes and turn them on the other side.
- Fry them for about 3-4 minutes on the other side until they got a golden colour and are crispy on the outside and then take them out. Continue with the other two fish.
- Put the garlic cloves and a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt in a mortar.
- Crush well with the pestle and gradually adding the sunflower oil and freshly ground pepper mix until you get a garlic paste.
- Add the lemon juice and the water to get a slightly more fluid consistency and then I pour the sauce into a serving bowl.
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