Skewered sole with braised fennel

Partly out of laziness, partly out of convenience, Turkish restaurants outside Turkey have made swordfish on skewers a clichéd dish, but they’re not doing their country any favours. Charcoal works best with an oily fish that doesn’t dry out as easily as swordfish, so inevitably most swordfish skewers turn out dry and overcooked. Putting something on a skewer doesn’t make it Turkish. What does is the right application of techniques and flavourings to a fresh ingredient. Sole, like most fish fillets, is much more suitable for pan-frying, and rolling the fillets before skewering means you can achieve a crispy outside and a juicy inside.

Credit: Bree Hutchins

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 16 sole fillets (or other flat fish)
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) olive oil 
• 8 bay leaves
• 4 spring onions
• 1 red onion
• 1 lemon 
• 12 bay leaves
• 1 small fennel bulb
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp plain (all-purpose) flour
• juice of 2 oranges
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp white pepper

Instructions

Ask your fishmonger to slice 4 fillets each from four soles. Lay the fillets on a board. Slice the spring onions into 4 cm (1½ inch) tubes. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add the spring onions and cook for 2 minutes, shaking the pan constantly. Remove from the heat.

Put a spring onion across the bottom of each fillet and roll the fillet around it. Now make the skewers. Cut the red onion in half, crossways. Reserve one half to use with the fennel. Cut the remaining half into 8 pieces. Cut the lemon in half, then slice that half into three rounds about 1 cm (½ inch) wide, then slice each round into quarters. Reserve the remaining half of the lemon for the sauce.

Each skewer will contain 4 rolls of fish, 3 small pieces of lemon, 3 bay leaves, and 2 pieces of onion that will form brackets at either end of the skewer. Take 1 piece of onion and push onto the skewer. Add 1 roll of fish, then 1 bay leaf, 1 piece of lemon, then fish again, bay leaf again, lemon, fish, bay leaf, lemon, fish, and finally the other onion bracket. Make 3 more skewers the same way.

Remove the outer layer from the fennel and slice the remaining bulb into four rounds, lengthways. If the fennel came with the green fronds attached, keep them for decoration. Finely slice the remaining half onion and any remaining pieces not used for the skewers.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 1 minute. Add the fennel pieces and fry for 1 minute, then stir in the zest, salt and sugar. Mix the flour into the orange juice. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the orange juice mixture and enough water to cover the fennel. Close the lid and simmer for 15 minutes. Check the fennel; if it is not soft, simmer for another 10 minutes.

In a separate, large 30 cm (12 inch) frypan, heat all but 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil with the butter over medium heat. Add a drop of water to the oil. If it sizzles the oil is ready. Add the skewers and cook for 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Place a quarter of the fennel mixture on each plate. Place a skewer on top. Juice the remaining half lemon, and combine the juice with the remaining olive oil and the white pepper. Drizzle a little over each skewer. Decorate with fennel tips (if you have them) and serve.

Recipe from Anatolia by Somer Sivrioglu and David Dale (Murdoch Books, $79.99, hbk). Photography by Bree Hutchins.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.