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Halibut Steaks
Dry the halibut thoroughly, and cut it into neat steaks about one inch thick; dredge them with flour, dip them in the yolk of a beaten egg, then in fine bread-crumbs, and fry in hot lard for about ten minutes. Garnish with crisp parsley and chillies.
A straightforward crumbed and shallow-fried fish steak; the only real trap is the frying time, which will overcook halibut badly.
- Time it by thickness, not the clockTen minutes for a one-inch steak in hot fat will leave halibut dry and cottony. Allow roughly 3-4 minutes a side over medium-high heat, until the crumb is deep gold and the centre just flakes. Cooks aiming for a moist result often pull halibut at 130-135F, though food-safety guidance for fish is 145F.
- Lard and fat depthThe lard is doing the work of shallow frying, so use about half an inch in a heavy pan at 350-360F. Lard is still sold, but clarified butter or a neutral oil with a high smoke point behaves the same way.
- Dry the fish and mean itThe instruction to dry the halibut thoroughly is the hinge of the recipe. Any surface water turns the flour to paste and the coating slides off in the pan; blot both faces and the skinned edges with paper before dredging.
- Egg yolk onlyThis recipe calls for yolk rather than whole egg; period books use both. Beat a yolk with a teaspoon of water or milk so it will coat rather than clot.
- "Fine bread-crumbs"Most likely dried crumbs sieved fine rather than fresh crumbs or coarse commercial panko. Grind dried white bread and sift it; fine crumbs give the even coating the recipe implies.
- Crisp parsleyA garnish of parsley dropped into the hot fat for a few seconds until it stiffens and darkens slightly. Dry it completely first, as wet parsley will spit violently in lard.
- The chilliesProbably whole red chillies, dried or pickled, laid on the platter chiefly for colour. A lemon wedge does the same job for modern taste.
- YieldThe original gives no quantity. Figure one 6-8 oz steak per person, and fry in batches so the fat stays hot.
Halibut was a familiar large flatfish on British and North American fish counters in the later nineteenth century, firm enough to be cut into steaks across the bone in the manner of salmon or cod and to survive egg-and-crumb frying without collapsing. The technique here is the standard "a la anglaise" breading that appears throughout Victorian cookery books for cutlets, croquettes and fillets alike, and the frying medium is lard, a common household frying fat of the period. The chilli-and-parsley garnish reflects the period's taste for showy plating, with bright colour arranged around the dish on a white platter. Halibut's status has since changed considerably, with Atlantic stocks heavily depleted and the fish now among the more expensive things on the counter.