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Eels in Green Sauce (Paling in ’t Groen)
Eels in green sauce, this is a Belgian classic! Paling in 't groen, the herb sauce contains fresh parsley, mint, oregano and chervil!
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4 people
Calories per serving 450 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ⅖ lbs fresh eel (650 g), cleaned
- 2 medium shallots chopped finely
- 1 large garlic clove chopped finely
- a handful fresh chervil
- a small handful fresh parsley
- 2 handfuls fresh spinach
- a small handful fresh mint
- a small handful fresh oregano
- 8 leaves fresh sorrel
- ½ cup dry white wine (120 ml)
- 1 cup fish stock (240 ml)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- pepper
- salt
Instructions
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Heat a large pan of water until boiling. Rinse the spinach. Cut the leaves in half and remove the tougher line in the middle. Also trim the fresh herbs and remove any tough stems. Then add the spinach, chervil, parsley, mint and oregano to a sieve and rinse well.
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Let the greens drain. Once the water is boiling, add the spinach and herbs (don’t add the sorrel yet). Stir gently and let them all blanch in the hot water for just a minute, not more.
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Then strain the blanched spinach and herbs and immediately refresh them under cold running tap water to preserve the fresh green color. Transfer the blanched greens to a bowl, then add cold water and place it in the fridge.
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Rinse the eels and cut them into 3-inch (7 cm) bits.
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Melt half of the butter in a large casserole. Also add the chopped shallot and garlic.
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Gently fry them for 3 minutes. Then add the chopped eels.
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Stir and bake the eels for 4 minutes. Then pour in the white wine.
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Let the wine reduce by half and then pour in the fish stock. Season with some pepper.
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Cover the casserole, keep the heat medium and cook the eels for 5 more minutes until cooked through. Then remove the lid and let the remaining liquid reduce for another 3 minutes (you need some for later as well). Remove the eels from the pan and put them on a clean plate. Drain the cooled greens well and add them to a blender. Then add 3 tablespoons of the eel cooking liquid.
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Blend well and then add the sorrel.
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Blend again into a thick green paste. Then add this paste and the rest of unsalted butter to the reduced fish stock in the casserole.
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Stir well. Add the lemon juice. With a stick mixer blend the green sauce until very smooth. You can also use a blender for this.
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Check the seasoning of the green sauce and add extra pepper, salt or lemon juice to taste. Then add the cooked eels to the sauce.
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Stir and scoop the eels in green sauce into bowls. Serve hot.
