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This Rockfish with Yuzu Sauce is an incredibly easy and budget friendly meal that will make you feel like you are dining at a fine Seafood restaurant! The sauce is lightly floral and citrusy and adds a decadent sophistication that turns a basic fish dinner into one worthy of a special occasion, or date night dinner. It takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish, and is a delicious, quick and easy low carb meal.
What Kind of Fish Should You Use?
For this recipe, I purchased fresh, wild Rockfish at our local Costco. They also had wild Halibut and wild Cod, but the wild Rockfish was a bit cheaper (and I love Rockfish!) so I went with that. White fish of some sort is widely available, and relatively inexpensive, and almost any white fish will work in this recipe. However, I would definitely not recommend Black Cod (also known as Sablefish or Butterfish), as although it is a white fish, it is extremely oily and would be entirely too rich for a sauce like this one.
If you are trying to eat more fish and need a good salmon recipe, check out these insanely delicious Crispy Salmon Cakes with Basil Lime Sauce. I haven’t served them to anyone who didn’t want the recipe. They are so good!
One more way to incorporate fish into your diet is with these unbelievable Poke Nachos. There aren’t enough words to describe how good they are. Take a look, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
What is Yuzu?
Yuzu is a citrus fruit that is believed to have originated in East Asia. It is generally about the size of a large orange and has a similar type of skin that varies between green and yellow in color, depending on the degree of ripeness. It’s flavor is a light mix of all the citrus fruits, combined with a bright floral note that makes it fragrant and refreshing. It is not commonly eaten by itself, but usually juiced or zested, and added to anything from sauces to vinegars to cocktails. A beautiful addition to a brown butter sauce and I think in this recipe you’ll enjoy the Yuzu sauce. It is a fun change from using the old lemon standby with your fish. You can buy it in most asian markets, or see it here on Amazon.
What do I need to Make this Meal?
- 1 Pound of White Fish Cut into 4, 4 ounce Fillets
- 1/2 Cup Flour
- Salt and Pepper
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/8 Cup Yuzu Juice
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- Tablespoon of Chopped Chives as garnish
How Long Does it Take to Make?
This recipe is one of those, “big bang for your buck” type recipes. Not only is it a super budget friendly dinner, but it is quick and easy, too! Fish fillets tend to be fairly thin and therefore cook quite quickly. The prep work for the fish is nothing more than seasoning and dredging the fillets in flour. Pan Frying them should not take more than 8 minutes from heating the pan, to fully cooked!
The sauce is simply a matter of browning the butter, which takes a minute or 2 longer than melting it. Then, adding in the Yuzu takes no time at all. So, as you can see, this dinner is going to save you time and money, yet appear that the opposite is true!
A Few Notes about the Yuzu Sauce
This sauce is so incredibly easy, it is almost hard to believe it is just 3 simple ingredients! If you have never made a browned Butter Sauce, you are in for a treat. Doesn’t it just sound rich and bougie and nutty and buttery? Well, it totally is. Yum Yum Yum. And, like I said, it is easy.
To make the sauce, just heat your saucepan on medium high heat. You don’t want the heat too high, but higher than medium. When you add your butter, it is going to sizzle dramatically, as butter does. This is caused by all of the water in the butter evaporating. I would recommend using a European butter, such as Kerrygold (because really, is there any other?! Ha! ). European butters have a higher fat content which means a creamier and more flavorful butter.
Once the butter has stopped sizzling, you will notice a foam forming on the top. This is created when the milk solids are heated and separate themselves from the rest of the butter. You will want to take a spoon, and skim off the foam. Once you do this, you will see the clear, golden butter. Add the garlic now.
This is when you need to keep a close eye on your butter because it is when either the magic or mayhem happens. It will begin to turn golden and then brown. You will also notice some sediment forming on the bottom of the pan. That’s ok! This sediment is the caramelized milk solids. It will stay on the bottom and not be part of your sauce, but keep an eye on it because when your melted butter is golden brown and the solids on the bottom are brown, you are done!
Pour the sauce into a bowl, being careful to leave the sediment in the pan. At this point, you will whisk your yuzu into the butter sauce and then take a little taste. If you used an unsalted butter, you will most likely want to add some salt. Even if you used a salted butter, you may want to add salt. Just add it little by little until you have reached your desired saltiness.
How Do You Serve it?
Well, continuing on with the, “easy peasy Yuzu squeasy” theme we have going on with this recipe, putting it all together is no different! If you are not someone who can easily multitask, I would suggest browning your butter first, then keeping it in the sauce pan until you are ready to take the fish off the stove.
Once the fish is done, strain the butter sauce into the bowl and add the Yuzu juice and season. Then, place one fillet on each plate and drizzle about a tablespoon of sauce over each one. You should have enough sauce to add more if anyone would like more, but it is very rich, so easy does it! Sprinkle the fish with the chopped chives and serve!
If you want to keep it an easy and low carb meal, you can roast some asparagus, toss a green salad or this yummy Strawberry Salad with Creamy Lemon Dressing and call it good! Otherwise, rice, (even sprinkled with a little Yuzu juice would be delicious), and maybe a Yuzu Slaw? Or, check out these Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts with Gochujang Glaze and Yuzu Aioli !
There are so many ways to Yuz~ I mean use, Yuzu. Have fun and I hope you love this sauce, and this dinner!
More Delicious Recipes
- Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts with Gochujang Glaze and Yuzu Aioli– A perfect appetizer or side dish. Easy to make and so delicious!
- Poke Nachos– The BEST poke appetizer ever! These are really SO. GOOD.
- Spicy Tuna Roll Bowl– A deconstructed Spicy tuna roll. So easy! So delicious!
- Lemon Pesto Pasta– Fresh, light and yummy!
- Crispy Salmon Cakes with Basil Lime Sauce– These are my favorite way to eat salmon! If you make them, have the recipe handy because your guests will be asking!
- Blistered Shishito Peppers– Another simple, yet delicious recipe.
- Cold Ramen Salad with Sesame Sauce– This Cold Ramen Salad is so refreshing and flavorful!
- Spicy Sweet Candied Ginger– A spicy sweet treat!
If you do make this, I would love to hear how you liked it in the comments below! Did you use Yuzu in any of the side dishes? What is your favorite way to use Yuzu? Thank you and thank you for visiting Mollie in Montana~*! ♥️
Rockfish with Yuzu Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb Rockfish, or other Whitefish cut into 4 filets
- ½ Cup Flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Chives or green onions, thinly chopped
Yuzu Butter Sauce
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- ⅛ Cup Yuzu Juice
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Make sure your fish fillets are nice and dry and then season them with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Dredge fillets in flour on both sides, shake to remove excess flour. They should be just lightly coated.
- Heat a skillet over medium high heat.
- Once the skillet is hot, add 2 Tablespoons of Oil as well as the fillets.
- Cook the fillets for 2 minutes per side (or until fish is flaky and golden brown).
Yuzu Butter Sauce
- Heat metal sauce pan over medium high heat and add the butter.
- Once butter has stopped sizzling and has completely melted, add the garlic.
- Use a spoon to scrape the layer of foam off of the top.
- Swirl in gently until you have clear, golden brown butter. Make sure you keep a close eye on it now. It can go from golden brown to burned very quickly.
- Pour the brown butter into a bowl. Make sure you don't add the brown sediment that will be at the bottom.
- Stir Yuzu Juice into the butter garlic sauce.
- Taste and season with salt according to your preference. If you used unsalted butter, you will most likely want to add salt.
How to Serve
- To serve, drizzle a tablespoon or so of the Yuzu Butter sauce over each piece of fish. A little goes a long way, but you should have enough sauce to add a little extra for anyone who wants more.
- Sprinkle with chives to garnish.
- Enjoy! ♥️
Notes
- You can use any white fish that you like. I would suggest Rockfish or Cod as they are reasonably priced, widely available and not overly fatty. Otherwise, feel free to use any other lean white fish you like. I would suggest staying away from Salmon and Black Cod as they are very fatty.
- When you are pan frying your fish, the fillets are done when the outside is golden brown and the layers flake away easy, but are still very moist.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter, just make sure you taste your sauce before you season it, as every butter and every salt varies!
- When you are browning your butter, keep a close eye on it. It can go from perfectly golden brown and delicious to burned and bitter very quickly!
- To help gauge the butter doneness, use a light colored sauce pan, such as stainless steel. Stay away from dark pots or pans that will make it hard to see the color of the butter.
- If you are lucky enough to have access to a fresh Yuzu fruit, then of course, use that! 🙂 If not, it is fairly easy to find a pure Yuzu Juice that will work just as well!
Abby Salsman says
Yum! Seriously beautiful meal.
mollieinmontana says
Thank you Abby! ♥️