Kitchen Olympics

How to Make Fish en Papillote

The key to an incredibly moist, flavorful piece of fish? A mere piece of paper.
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    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    Half a heart

    Fold a 12-by-16-inch piece of parchment in half, then cut it so that it'll be shaped like a heart when you unfold it. (Need further explanation here? Call your kindergarten teacher.)

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    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    Fish ❤︎ papillote

    To one side of the creased line, place the fish, topping with your choice of aromatics and quick-cooking vegetables, like lemon zest, butter, chopped fresh herbs, and sliced tomato. Season with salt and pepper.

  • Fold the paper over the piece of seasoned fish. Starting from the pointy end fold the parchmentpaper edge into small...
    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    Seal it up

    Fold the paper over the piece of seasoned fish. Starting from the pointy end, fold the parchment-paper edge into small, overlapping triangles to seal.

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    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    Give it a brush

    Time for a quick beauty treatment: Brush the top of the parchment packet with oil so that it'll turn translucent and shiny when you present it at the table. Or don't. Totally up to you.

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    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    A fish in the oven

    Transfer packet to a baking sheet and bake at 450F until parchment packet puffs, 8-10 minutes (fish fillets thicker than 1/2 inch will take a bit longer).

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    Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
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    Undress your packet

    Immediately transfer each sealed packet to a dinner plate, pierce with a paring knife, and tear open to serve.

A former senior editor at Epicurious, Sam Worley is a freelance writer and editor. His work has appeared in Atlanta magazine, Chicago magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, Condé Nast Traveler, Heated, the Chicago Tribune, Popula, the Outline, the LA Review of Books, the Awl, and elsewhere. ... Read More
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