Eel simmered in a green sauce of finely chopped fresh herbs, a dish of the Flemish Scheldt valley, normally served hot with chips or bread and lemon.

Paling in 't groen, or anguilles au vert in French, is a Belgian dish from the Flemish Region, mainly along the Scheldt between Dendermonde and Antwerp. The eel is simmered with finely chopped fresh herbs, and it is normally served hot with chips or bread and a squeeze of lemon. The local river eel has become rare because of pollution, so wild eel is usually imported. In Bruges, Breydel-De Coninck lists eel 'in green' with a herb sauce, and De Stove serves fried eel and eel in cream.

Where to eat Paling in 't Groen (Anguilles au Vert) in Bruges

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Make it at home

Serves 41 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 800g fresh European eel fillets, skinned and cut into 6cm pieces (sold at quality fishmongers; substitute with monkfish, hake or thick whiting if eel is unavailable)
  • 60g unsalted butter
  • 2 large shallots, finely diced
  • 300ml dry white wine (a crisp Belgian or Alsatian Riesling)
  • 200ml fish stock or chicken stock
  • 2 large bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley (about 80g leaves)
  • 1 large bunch fresh chervil (40g leaves; if unavailable, double the parsley)
  • 1 small bunch fresh sorrel (30g leaves; substitute with 2 tbsp lemon juice plus 30g extra spinach)
  • 1 small bunch watercress (30g)
  • 100g young spinach leaves
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, snipped
  • 200ml double cream
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • To serve: fresh crusty bread or boiled new potatoes

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a wide heavy pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook 4 minutes until soft and translucent.
  2. Pour in the white wine and the fish stock. Bring to a low simmer.
  3. Lay the eel pieces gently in the simmering liquid; poach 6 to 8 minutes (depending on thickness) until just opaque and tender. Lift the eel out and keep warm.
  4. Blanch the parsley, chervil, sorrel, watercress, spinach, tarragon and chives in a separate pot of boiling water for 30 seconds; immediately refresh in iced water and drain (this is the structural step that locks in the brilliant green colour).
  5. Transfer all the blanched herbs and 200ml of the eel poaching liquid into a powerful blender; blend to a vivid emerald puree.
  6. Reduce the remaining poaching liquid in the pan over medium heat for 5 minutes until concentrated.
  7. Whisk the egg yolks and cream together in a bowl; temper by streaming in a ladle of the hot reduced liquid while whisking.
  8. Return the cream mixture to the pan with the herb puree; warm over very low heat, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly to coat a spoon (about 78 degrees Celsius). Do not boil; the sauce will split.
  9. Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, salt and white pepper.
  10. Return the eel to the warm sauce just to reheat for 60 seconds.
  11. Plate immediately in shallow bowls with crusty bread or boiled new potatoes. The sauce should be emerald and glossy; the dish is at its visual peak in the first 5 minutes after plating.

Editor tip. Blanch the herbs only briefly and shock immediately in iced water; the green colour fades fast in a hot sauce. Do not let the sauce boil after the egg yolks are in; it will split. Sorrel is the canonical sour note; if unavailable, replace with extra spinach and a generous squeeze of lemon.

Common allergens: Fish, Dairy, Sulphites.