September 20, 2018

German Pan-Fried Trout

Name: German Pan-Fried Trout
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 4 whole trout, gutted and prepared for cooking; 1/4 cup flour; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 5 lemons, divided; 1/4 cup canola oil; 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish; 1/4 cup butter; 1 garlic clove, grated or minced; 1-2 tablespoons beer, preferably a wiessbier or something similar; 1/2 lemon, juiced; Pinch of salt

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Happy Oktoberfest, friends! To celebrate the occasion, I teamed up with the good people at Craft Beering as well as eight other fabulous bloggers to bring you a collection of amazing Oktoberfest recipes, which you can find below. Every recipe looks amazing, and I can’t wait to make my way through the list over the next couple weeks. For my recipe, I put together a traditional German pan-fried trout with a side of butter-beer sauce, and I hope it gets you into the Oktoberfest spirit.

How to Make German Pan-Fried Trout

Let’s start cooking. If cooking a whole fish looks intimidating, I get it. I used to feel that way until I decided it was time to get over it and learn. And you know what? Cooking a whole fish is so simple that I’m almost embarrassed this used to intimidate me.

As it turns out, King Soopers, which is part of the Kroger chain and my local store, sells trout gutted, scaled and cleaned. If you shop at a store from the Kroger brand, I suspect it would also offer whole trout ready for cooking. Even if it doesn’t, you can ask the person at the seafood counter to gut the fish and prepare it for cooking. The idea of gutting a fish makes me squeamish, so I’m happy to skip this step.

Now that you have trout ready for cooking, simply dredge it flour, salt and pepper and fry it in oil for about five minutes per side. I love using a cast iron skillet for this and find it gives the trout the perfect crust.

While the fish cooks, go ahead and make the butter-beer sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and give it a whisk once it starts to melt. After the butter melts, stir in some freshly grated garlic and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Then, add the beer, lemon juice and a pinch of salt if needed.

By the time your butter-beer sauce is ready, your trout should be done. Garnish the trout with chopped parsley and lemon. You can dunk each bite into the butter-beer sauce or spoon it all over the trout.

Perfect Pairing for German Pan-Fried Trout

For this pan-fried trout, you need a weissbier, which is a German-style wheat beer. After all, what kind of Oktoberfest celebration would it be without a good German-style beer? Weissbier is one of those beers that pairs nicely with so many foods, and I especially love it with this trout. Wiessbier’s body is light enough that it doesn’t overpower the trout with plenty of lively carbonation to refresh the palate after a buttery bite.

While Oktoberfest is known for beer, a dry German riesling is also delicious with this pan-fried trout. Germany is known for its white wines as its cool climate makes it a better environment for white grape varietals. Typically, Germany rieslings make people think of a sweet wine, but German winemakers also produce plenty of dry rieslings. These dry rieslings are citrusy with high levels of acidity to help cut through the butter sauce and brighten the fish.

Along with this German pan-fried trout, I hope you try these other delicious recipes to celebrate Oktoberfest and enter the contest to win a case of Prost Brewing Märzen.

Aromatic Currywurst made by Marvellina from What to Cook Today
Hot Cheese Dip with Onions and Gruyere made by Julie from Cooks with Cocktails
Bratkartoffeln (German-Style Pan Fried Potatoes with Bacon) made by Annie from Ciao Chow Bambina
Bratwurst Burger made by Brittany from Beyond the Bayou
Schnitzel Platter made by Milena from Craft Beering
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins with Hefeweizen Drizzle made by Kelly from Kelly Lynn’s Sweets and Treats
Gebrannte Mandeln (Roasted Candied Almonds) made by Dawn from Dawn the Gourmand
Danube Waves Cake made by Kelsie from The Itsy Bitsy Kitchen
Bavarian Cream Donuts made by Camila from Pies and Tacos

Please let me know how you enjoyed this recipe in the comment section and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter.

Prost!

Love Cooking With Beer? Try These Beer-Infused Recipes From Burrata and Bubbles.