Cleaned eel

European eel is Anguilla anguilla, an elongated fish with a continuous line of fins along much of its body. For this preparation, its skin and backbone stay in place. The cleaned fish is cut across into short sections, so each piece keeps the shape of the body.

Order the eel gutted, with the skin and backbone retained, and ask for sections about 5 cm long. Weigh 500 g after cleaning. Check the prepared pieces for loose bones and keep them chilled while the onion and tomato base is prepared.

Arrange the sections in the sauce and keep the simmer gentle. Rock the pan to move the sauce around the fish, then add the perch at its later stage. Serve with the backbone still present and remove bones carefully while eating. For a larger batch, allow enough pan space for both kinds of fish.

Ask for cleaned eel for a stew and explain that the skin and backbone should remain. Confirm the ready weight after gutting and trimming; a whole fish before cleaning will not give the same weight in the pan. Read the species and origin information supplied with the fish.

Follow the fishmonger’s storage and use-by instructions. Keep the prepared eel covered and chilled, separate from food ready to eat. Bring it to the pan when the vegetables are ready rather than leaving it beside the hob during preparation.