Braised Hake with Onion and White Wine

Name: Braised Hake with Onion and White Wine Recipe
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Hake (headless carcasses) 4; Salt, black peppercorns, coriander 0.5 tsp each; Flour 2 tbsp (20 g); Vegetable oil 50 ml; Onion 3-4; Salt, black pepper a pinch each; Bay leaf 1-2; Saffron (marigold) a pinch; Dry white wine 50 ml (or 1 tsp lemon juice); Water up to 1 cup (including the wine) (200 ml); Potatoes for mashing 3–4 pcs; Parsley a pinch; Hot pepper optional

☆ Rate it

1 h 30 mins

Braising, widely used in cooking, is the prolonged heating of food in a very small amount of liquid (or none added at all). It is not frying, where heat is transferred to the food from hot fat, and it is not boiling. It is something in between. Food is usually braised in a closed space: a frying pan or kazan with a lid, a saucepan or a ceramic pot. When braising, spices are usually added at the very beginning so that all the ingredients absorb the flavor and aroma.

This is how braised hake is made: onion and inexpensive fish are cooked in a small amount of liquid until done. You can braise any fish. Most often, and it is very convenient, large fish is cut into pieces and braised. Braising is a great way to cook “bony” fish. Braised river bream with carrots and onion is a wonderful dish in which all the annoying little bones have melted away.

With onion we mostly braise inexpensive sea fish: cod, hake, pollock. It has always surprised me that such fish is not held in particular esteem, considering that it is tasty, has no noticeable bones, is easy to cook and is cheap. Of course, I understand that grilled trout compares “favorably” with fried pollock, but these are different tastes, and they simply cannot be compared.

I remember catching small hake from a boat in Bulgaria using shrimp as bait, a fascinating pastime.

Braised hake with onion is made from fresh-frozen fish. Essentially, you can quite well use pollock. If the hake carcasses are fresh and have not been refrozen, the fish keeps all its qualities and the braised fish will be superb. Fish braised with onion and served with mashed potatoes is a tasty home-style dish, just like braised potatoes with meat.

More with white fish

Tender Cod and Potato Fish Cakes with Blue Cheese Sauce

1 h

Fried Pollock

30 min

Grilled Tilapia Fillet with Vegetable Side

45 min

Fish in Marinade

5 h

Pike or Cod Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

45 min

More white fish recipes

Ingredients

2 servings

For the fish
Hake (headless carcasses) 4
Salt, black peppercorns, coriander 0.5 tsp each
Flour 2 tbsp (20 g)
Vegetable oil 50 ml
For braising
Onion 3-4
Salt, black pepper a pinch each
Bay leaf 1-2
Saffron (marigold) a pinch
Dry white wine 50 ml (or 1 tsp lemon juice)
Water up to 1 cup (including the wine) (200 ml)
For serving
Potatoes for mashing 3–4 pcs
Parsley a pinch
Hot pepper optional

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

Preparing the fish

For tasty braised hake with onion, buy the freshest hake carcasses that have definitely not been refrozen. It is hard to advise how to ensure that, but buying from a trusted store you can get good-quality fish. Hake carcasses are sold gutted and headless.
Thaw the hake: move the frozen carcasses from the freezer to the refrigerator in advance, preferably the evening before, so the fish thaws well and does not leak. Do not rush the thawing.
Scale the fish; the scales come off easily with a knife. Remove any remaining innards and the dark membrane lining the belly cavity. Cut off all the fins with kitchen scissors. Wash the fish thoroughly and pat it dry with paper towels.
Rub the carcasses with spices: in a mortar, grind 0.5 tsp each of salt (3 g), black peppercorns and coriander, rub the mixture over the hake and leave for 30 mins.

Frying the fish and onion

Fry the hake. Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Coat the hake lightly in flour and fry it in the hot oil.
When the fish is nicely browned on one side, turn the carcasses over and fry the other side. There is no need to cook the hake through, since it will keep cooking for quite a while. Transfer the hake, fried to a golden crust, to a separate plate.
Fry the onion in the remaining vegetable oil: fry the peeled onion, cut into thick strips, over medium heat without a lid, stirring fairly often. The onion should be well fried and turn a dark golden color.
When the frying is done, add a pinch of salt and pepper, 1-2 bay leaves and a pinch of saffron or marigold.

Braising

Stir the onion with the spices, immediately add the fried fish and pour in the liquid. Since there is very little moisture in the fish and the fried onion, you can add plain water from the kettle. To improve the flavor, be sure to add a quarter cup of dry white wine or, if wine is not an option, 1 tsp of lemon juice, squeezing it from a lemon wedge straight onto the fish and onion. The amount of liquid in the saucepan should be no more than 1 cup.
Braise the hake for about 30 mins. As soon as the liquid boils, reduce the heat and braise the fish and onion under a lid. The liquid should barely simmer. Every 5-6 mins, turn the hake carcasses in the onion sauce so they cook evenly. At the end of braising there will be very little liquid left in the saucepan; in any case, you can remove the lid and let any excess liquid boil off.
While the hake is braising, peel 3-4 potatoes, boil them and make mashed potatoes.

Serving

Put the mashed potatoes on plates, add the braised onion and the hake carcasses. Sprinkle with a pinch of finely chopped parsley and, if you like, hot pepper.
Serve the braised hake with onion right away, while it is still hot.
Braised fish with mashed potatoes has a very delicate flavor and is perfect for a good lunch.

Calories and macros

1035 kcal

Serving ≈ 960 g

Protein149 g61% of kcal
Fat34 g31% of kcal
Carbs21 g9% of kcal

100 g107 kcalProtein 15.5 gFat 3.5 gCarbs 2.2 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

Enjoyed the recipe? Pick me as a preferred source on Google, and you'll see my recipes more often in search. Choose on Google →

How did you like this recipe?

Thanks for rating!