A Beautiful Evening and Lovely Meal with a Friend of Twenty-Five Years
Almond flounder meunière is today’s FFWD recipe choice. It couldn’t have been a better one for me. This week my friend Kent Harding, who lives in Toronto, is visiting Las Vegas. Every year he joins his colleagues for a golfing junket here and always spares time to see me. He and his wife Jean, one of North America’s preeminent portrait painters, also own a home in LaCadière, a tiny village located in the far western sliver of the Cote d’Azur. We have known them for the past 25 years, since first meeting on a bicycle tour in Provence. Friends ever since, over the past 8 years I have often enjoyed their extraordinary French hospitality and been welcomed into their expat community of friends there.
What better dish to serve him than the Dorie-version of sole amandine and sole meunière rolled together into Almond Flounder Meunière. If we wanted to wring out a few precious French memories, this would be the perfect meal for it.
Unfortunately, flounder doesn’t come easy, sole is trés chère and I needed to cast a wider net to haul in an acceptable substitute.
Skai. Has anyone ever heard of skai?
The butcher insisted it would be a very good fish for my recipe. To that suggestion, I ran home to google two sites, National Fisheries Institute and Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Skai Fish Farm, photograph courtesy of koi-bito.com
The good news is, according to experts, skai is a white-fleshy fish with a sweet mild, taste and light flaky texture that can be broiled, grilled, or coated with bread crumbs and fried. The bad news, for me at least, is it is a river-farmed catfish (with a wink, wink, to river-farmed) harvested from the Mekong River in Vietnam. Whoops. The more investigation I did, the more I questioned whether I should take the bait and buy Skai.
There was all kinds of Internet chatter about this fish because it is a cheap alternative to pricier swimmers. I scanned the comments. My thinking was that Skai was kinda French, being from Vietnam which had been a part of the French colonial empire until 1954! Reason enough. However, what locked in my decision to buy Skai was a comment left on a food blog forum. Regarding Skai, the commenter wrote, “I have other things to worry about killing me before the Skai will.”
I took the bait.
I purchased 16 ounces of the Skai which was maybe river-farmed but probably just caught out of the Mekong River which flows through Vietnam which used to be part of the French colonial empire until 1954. Two pieces, available in fillet form, no bones. On sale – $2.99 per pound.
Almond Skai Meunière
It’s a simple process to fry the fish in browned butter. The coating mixture is ground almonds, flour, lemon zest, salt and pepper. The next time I make this I will use almond flour rather than grinding my own almonds. After brushing the fillets with an egg wash, coat one side of each fillet. I fried the skai 4 to 5 minutes on each side since it was a fleshier fish than either sole or flounder would be. Toss some toasted almonds and parsley over the browned fish, squirt a shot of lemon on top and, viola, skai became Almond Flounder Meunière.
What a wonderful combination, Asparagus, Leeks, & Parmigiano Reggiano
To accompany the fish, I made a simple recipe of sautéed asparagus and leeks, both purchased at the Farmer’s Market. The recipe, compliments of Kate who blogs on Savour Fare can be found here.
No one has died from eating my Skai…….yet. The meal was delicious and the fish, tasty. Of course, what about “fried in brown butter” doesn’t spell heavenly. The cautionary note is I will do more research before serving Skai again. And, truthfully, this recipe really belongs to a fish in the sole or flounder family.
To see what other Doristas reeled in this week, go here.
What a great post…I learned a few things. Isn’t it lovely to share a meal with a friend? Your meal and the atmosphere are so inviting…looks great!
Mary, I would not mind to be invited to such a wonderful looking dinner. The food looks delicious, the Provence tablecloth adds a nice French touch and the sun was shining – what more could one ask for?! I also love all the background information that you put together, it never ceases to amaze me how little one knows. Hope you had a great time with your friend from Toronto/Côte d’ Azur. Just one question left: no dessert this week? No, just kidding but I was just thinking of your Bundt from last week and that I have not had a chance to try out that recipe yet, sigh!
P.S.: Your terrace looks lovely – have a great weekend!
How fun to be able to serve this to your friends. And what a great setting, I can just picture the evening being a big hit. I love catching up with old friends over a good meal.
What a delightful meal to share with friends!! My fish monger recommended grouper…no skai in sight 🙂
How interesting. I’ve never even heard of skai! You’d think it would cost more than 2.99 a pound, just in the cost of transporting it from Vietnam. Glad it tasted good!
Skai – how educational. We had also read that “catfish” was a good substitute for flounder, Skai sounds so much more elegant. Beautiful table setting, very Provence inspired! And that glass of lemonade looks so refreshing.
Not only does your dinner look fantastic…but your table looks gorgeous…such a pretty setting! I loved the browned butter! So glad you enjoyed it!
Oh, what a perfect setting for a meal outdoors, Mary! I think any food would taste better sitting out there. I have not seen Skai at the fish counters here, but I had not heard of it before today, so I might have overlooked it. It looks delicious and I like your side of asparagus, leeks and parm regg.
Love the alfresco dining set up! I hadn’t heard of this fish before today. Susan at Create Amazing Meals used the same fish. Looks like a great meal to share with friends.
Mary, I had the same reservations, but when I researched the fish, it’s safe & quite popular. I was surprised how much I liked it since we usually buy fish right off the boat. I bought mine @ Vons and I would definitely eat it again. Nothing like a lovely meal with old friends! Have a great weekend.
That’s where I bot mine. Von’s. Okay. Right. Delicious. Will buy again.
Hi Mary – As requested I updated my post with a bit more info on the potatoes. They are very easy.
Thank you.
Great post and thanks for sharing about this fish Skai…I have not heard of it :p but after reading your post, I learned something about it. Your dish looks good and I am sure your friends enjoyed it too. I will definitely make this again for the family!
how nice to have such a lovely evening to enjoy a great meal with a friend! 🙂
Ok, I am totally losing my mind – just so you know 🙂 Yes, that was a random thought…
Interesting fish debate. But all of your results look lovely.
I had never heard of that but it sounds great!
Great and tasty rendition using skai!