Parmesan Herb Panko Crusted Flounder
This is a nice light meal, with just enough crunch from the tasty Panko crust. I like to serve this with roasted vegetables, wild rice, and a fresh lemon wedge on the side.
This is a nice light meal, with just enough crunch from the tasty Panko crust. I like to serve this with roasted vegetables, wild rice, and a fresh lemon wedge on the side.
- Carbohydrate 2.947185 g
- Cholesterol 169.83 mg
- Fat 36.579035 g
- Fiber 1.28774994850159 g
- Protein 31.419825 g
- Saturated Fat 22.355683 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (233g)
- Sodium 176.3065 mg
- Sugar 1.65943505149841 g
- Trans Fat 3.026313 g
- Calories 459 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
- Using a shallow plate, spread out panko crumbs and season them with salt & pepper, to taste.
- Mix well.
- Rub butter over both sides of flounder filets to moisten.
- Roll each flounder filet in the crumbs, pressing down to help the crumbs adhere to the filets.
- Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or just until starting to turn golden and fish is flaky.
- Serve immediately.
- Garnish with fresh chives and a lemon wedge, if desired.
Substituting standard breadcrumbs for Japanese panko alters the final crunch entirely because panko flakes are coarser, drier, and constructed with an open-cell structure that resists absorbing moisture too quickly. Maintaining this crisp exterior when scaling the recipe upward requires using multiple baking sheets rather than crowding a single pan, which traps steam and causes the fish to sweat instead of bake. Spacing fillets at least two inches apart ensures circulating hot air at 350 degrees Fahrenheit can render the butter and toast the cheese evenly within the 10 to 15 minute cooking window. Visual doneness arrives precisely when the flesh turns opaque and flakes apart easily under gentle pressure from a fork.
Multiplication factors apply linearly to butter and dry coatings when doubling or tripling batches, though heavy-handed seasoning risks overwhelming delicate marine proteins. Weighing dry ingredients on a digital scale guarantees consistent ratios across large-scale preps, keeping the ratio of fat to starch balanced. Coating each fillet demands a systematic two-handed approach: reserve one hand exclusively for handling the buttered fish and the other dry hand for pressing crumbs into the surface. This technique prevents gummy clumps of panko from accumulating on your fingers and wasting precious coating material.
Executing smaller test batches requires scaling down butter quantities precisely to avoid drowning delicate white fish in excess fat during baking. Measuring out precise tablespoon quantities prevents the coating from becoming soggy before the oven heat activates the melting point of the cheese. Thin fillets cook rapidly, meaning even minor adjustments to batch sizes necessitate close visual monitoring around the ten-minute mark to prevent dryness. Keep raw portions refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below until the exact moment of coating to maintain food safety standards.
Storing leftover baked flounder safely involves transferring portions into airtight glass containers within two hours of baking to minimize bacterial growth. Consuming these leftovers within two days preserves the remaining food quality, though reheating must happen gently in a toaster oven rather than a microwave to avoid rubbery textures. Microwaving introduces moisture that permanently ruins the crisp parmesan crust, whereas dry heat reactivates the remaining fats and restores slight rigidity to the coating.
