Recipe for Line-Caught Hake in a Crust 11/04/2025

Discover the delicacy of line-caught hake in a bread crust, elevated by tender white asparagus and served with a refined orange sabayon—a savory creation by Chef Nicolas Massé that marries freshness, texture and flavor.

Ingredients for 4 people :

Garnish
• 1 hake fillet (approx. 960 g)
• 8 large white asparagus spears
• 60 g coarse salt
• Slices of whole-wheat sandwich bread
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Sabayon
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 orange
• 40 ml orange juice
• 12 g clarified butter

Technique :

Hake
• Cover the hake fillet with salt and let sit for 10 minutes, then rinse under a gentle stream of water. Pat dry and rest on a clean cloth for 30 minutes.
• Cut four uniform portions of about 95 g each from the center of the fillet.
• Brush each hake portion with clarified butter, then top with a slice of whole-wheat sandwich bread. Chill until ready to cook.
• When ready, pan-sear the hake in olive oil just until the bread begins to color, then finish cooking in a 180 °C oven for 3 minutes.

Asparagus
• Gently peel each spear from tip to base.
• Trim the woody ends to even out the spears.
• Cook in lightly salted boiling water, then plunge into ice water to stop cooking.
• Drain and lightly sear on a plancha (or grill pan) with a drizzle of olive oil.

Sabayon
• In a bain-marie or over very low heat, whisk the egg yolks and orange juice constantly in a figure-eight motion.
• When the mixture becomes foamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, whisk in the clarified butter, then finish with a little orange zest.

Finishing and plating :
• On a flat plate, lay two asparagus spears side by side.
• Place a bread-crusted hake portion on top of the asparagus.
• Serve the sabayon on the side in a small sauceboat.