Seared Artic Char

The other day, Arctic char was on sale at Whole Foods. Justin and I like to eat fish whenever we can, so we wanted to give this a try. It is sort of like a mix between salmon and trout — light flavor, moist, and has a great skin that gets really crispy. We had ours with sweet potato hash.

Ingredients
1 large fillet Arctic Char (about 3/4 to 1 pound for two)
Salt & Pepper
Cayenne

Special Equipment
1 pair eyebrow tweezers … ones that you never want to use again.
Heavy bottomed skillet, or cast iron skillet

Preparation

First, make sure all the bones are out of the fish. Run your fingers gently down the fleshy side of the fillet; if you feel something that feels like a hard little bump, it's probably a bone. Using a pair of old eyebrow tweezers, pull those babies out.

 It takes a little practice not to mutilate your fish, but if you're gentle you can do it. You might also be able to get the fish monger to do it for you.

Season your fish well.

Sear your fish skin side down. You always, always want to cook your fish 90% on the skin side. The skin will get nice and crispy, and your fish will stay really tender and moist. 

You can tell it's time to flip when the edges of the fish become opaque. Sear on the flesh side for a few minutes until it flakes with a fork.

We had ours with sweet potato hash. Looks crispy!

Also, everything is better topped with a fried egg.