Pan-Fried White Fish Fillets Served With Green Olive and Parsley Salsa

It was truly a relief when I found out Mister actually loved this fish recipe. The reason why I worried so much is because he wasn't a big fan of green olives and red wine vinegar, which happened to be two of the main flavor sources for the dressing.

Surprise surprise, I guess it's either the cooking done right or I got lucky with the flavor combination. In the end, he really enjoyed the fish. Not just ok or a simple praise, but truly loved. He specifically said it was so good. I guess I deserve a few pats on the shoulder for that.

Pan-fried white fish fillets served with green olive and parsley salsa - 

Ingredients (for two medium fillets)?

• 2 medium white fish fillets
• Some flour
• Some salt
• Some black pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Some lemon wedges

Salsa:

• 8 green olives
• 1 small bundle flat leaf parsley
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard or yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

How?

Have some flour with the amount enough to coat both sides of the fish fillets. Ready the flour on a big plate and mix in some salt and black pepper. I used about 2 pinches of salt here.

Coat the fish fillets with the flour mixture on both sides. I got skin-on rockfish fillets here but no bones. 

To make the salsa, remove the pits from the olives then chop the flesh. Mainly use the leafy part for the flat leaf parsley, give it a rough chop too. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Zest 1 lemon then slice to six wedges.

Mix together the prepped olives, parsley, lemon zest, garlic together with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set aside till the end.

Drizzle about 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and switch to medium heat. Once hot, add in the fish fillet skin side down first. Don't move it around too early, wait till the bottom seemed golden or slightly browned then flip and continue to sear the other side.

A side note, during the searing process, the fish will start to "puffed" up when in contact with heat. You can use a weight to keep the fillets pressed down. Or I simply use my spatula to press it down when searing.

Once the bottom is almost golden brown, add 3 lemon wedges. Slightly press on the lemon to help releasing some juice. We'll continue to sear the fish and both sides of the lemon wedges towards the end. Remember to flip the lemon once the bottom side turn slightly browned. 

Make sure the fish has been fully cooked through. Transfer both the fillets and seared lemon wedges to serving plate. 

Don't get too bothered if the seared coating doesn't look too pretty. We will cover it with salsa, so no one will notice (wink*). That said, let's spread the salsa all over the top of the fillets and serve with the remaining 3 lemon wedges.

You can make this fish like an entrée and served with a side of salad, perhaps some sort of potato too. However, I actually paired it with quinoa basmati rice, a bit western and eastern fused together, but they really did work in harmony.

Also for the green olive and parsley salsa, on top of using it on grilled or pan-fried fish, I think it'll also taste good with grilled chicken. Give it a try will you?  

Extended reading:

• Fish fillet packed with kicking spices - blackened fish