Pan-Seared Fish with Capers and Lemon Cream Sauce

This is one of those dishes that sound sophisticated but is actually very easy to prepare. And I promise it tastes great, too! The recipe is also quite versatile as you can use any kind of white fish,whether filleted or not : halibut, dory, tilapia, snapper etc. And you can even substitute filleted chicken breasts or chicken tenders. This is so delicious with rice, and you can even serve this with pasta. A recipe so versatile and delicious such as this is definitely a keeper.


600 gms fish fillets, both sides sprinkled with
salt, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
flour, enough to slightly cover both sides of fillets

juice from 1 lemon (save a slice or two for garnish)
1/2 C dry white wine
1/4 C heavy cream (or sour cream or plain yogurt, whatever you have on hand)
3 T capers (drained)
3 T olive oil
3 T butter
4 T minced garlic
1/2 onion, minced


1. In a wok or skillet, heat up the olive oil and butter until butter melts. Turn up the heat and brown or sear the fish fillet on one side. Turn the fish over to sear the other side.

2. Add in the garlic and onions. The pour in the white wine and the juice of one lemon. (You can add 1/4 C water if you prefer more sauce). When the sauce boils, let simmer in low fire for 2 to 3 minutes. Then add in the capers and cream. Mix the sauce well. Let boil, lower heat until fish is cooked (This will take only a minute or two.) Serve immediately.


All these effort took less than 30 minutes of preparation and cooking. The result? A very tasty and flavorful dish we ate with fragrant jasmine rice. This is so delicious the kids had second helping of rice. :) Daughter said she thought the fish was baked because of the melt-in-the mouth texture.



Sharing this dish with the Weekend Wokking community, headed and hosted this month by Wandering Chopsticks. The featured ingredient for the month is Lemon! Check out her blog first week of June for the round-up of delicious sweet and savory lemon dishes. To see the previous round-ups of different ways to cook an ingredient, please click here.