'Pan-dressed' simply means that the fish has been trimmed, scaled, gutted, boned or filleted and is ready to go straight into the pan in the recipe of your choice. This type of preparation is common in quality fish shops and fish markets. If you choose a whole fish, most fish shops will do all of these things for you, and should do them free of charge, but they may need notice at busy times. And you might need to explain your recipe because certain dishes required skinning as well as filleting.

If you ask your retailer to bone a fish, remember to ask for the bones to use for stock as these will not always be included automatically.

There are many species of sole and flounder, all flat fish with tiny scales and a white belly. The newly hatched fish have one eye symmetrically on each side of the head. When they grow to 2 cm long, one eye begins to move towards the top of the head, then crosses to the other side to lie adjacent to the other eye. As this happens, the pigment on the opposite side becomes lighter and turns almost white.

Both sole and flounder have a gill cover with another bone in front of it. In a sole these are joined together; in a flounder they are separate and you can insert your fingernail between them.

Both varieties of fish have white, soft flesh with a very fine flake, on a fine-boned skeleton. In most recipes, whether they are used whole or as fillets, sole and flounder are interchangable.

Any fish fillet, steak or small whole fish can be steamed - and this is the best way to retain all the natural goodness. Add richness of flavor by using a well-flavored fish stock or dry white wine instead of plain water in the steamer, and rest the fish on a bed of herbs or seaweed.

Bring the liquid to the boil then turn the heat down to simmering point. Lay the fish in the top of the steamer, making sure they do not overlap or they will not cook evenly, place it over the liquid and cover. Steaming times vary with the size and quantity of fish: allow 5-8 minutes for fillets, 10-15 minutes for steaks and whole fish.

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