Due to recent events, I’ve had to move back in with my parents to care for them. I can do the cleaning and most of the cooking due to my previous work experience. However, one thing I can’t cook is fish. His new diet has recommend lots of vegetables, fruits and fish, lots of fish. Personally, I hate fish and seafood, be it trout or shrimp. So, I have no experience cooking it, such as knowing when it’s done.
Currently, I’m cooking it (catfish) in aluminum foil with onions. My father comes into the kitchen to check to see if it’s done. However, due to the fact he is on oxygen, I have to turn off the stove, unwrap it, have him check it, then restart it after he’s left the kitchen. I don’t know what this does for the fish. So, can anyone offer advice on how to cook it ( he likes catfish and tilapia, but gets some trout from a friend) , such as recipes, sites that offer help?
The easiest way to check doneness for white fish like catfish, cod, tilapia, etc., is to stick a fork in between the striations on the meat and give the fork a little twist. If the meat flakes (comes apart easily) it’s done (or overdone). The secret is to remove it from heat right before it’s done, and let it coast to perfect doneness. This takes a bit of practice and feel, but it’s not too difficult to learn.
I prefer to pan cook white fish in olive oil, with garlic, or herbs, or onion. Same rules kind of apply: get the pan hot, put in some oil (more than you’d think, since fish will stick like crazy due to it’s low fat content) and when the oil heats up, put in the fish. Let it sit there a minute or so, and lift it to look underneath. If you’ve got a bit of crust on there and it looks like the muscle striations are separating, flip it over and do the same thing. Do this enough, and you’ll be able to tell doneness by feel. I usually touch the filet with a finger, and if it feels like a medium rare steak, I pull it off the heat.
Darker fish like tuna, salmon, etc. can be eaten rare (or raw, of course), which seems to aid in the texture and mouthfeel of the fish. Nothing worse than spending a crapload of money on some nice tuna steaks or salmon filets, and overcooking them.
Cooking times will vary based on filet size, type of fish, etc. I’m just relaying what works for me.
Alton Brown has several shows on cooking fish. The place to start is with his Hook, Line and Dinner. (Be sure to watch part 2, where he addresses pan frying.) All his episodes are available on YouTube by typing “Alton Brown fish” into the search bar, or watch him on Food Network.
But you can’t go wrong following the basic instructions given by Shark Sandwich.
Here’s a simple marinade that’s easy to switch up:
Combine:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon each of any of the following 2 seasonings: dill weed, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, or sage.
Preheat oven to 425F. Spray the bottom of a shallow glass pan with cooking spray. Place fillet of any style fish skin side down. Salt & pepper lightly. Brush or drizzle marinade over fish. Top with slivered almonds if desired. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
I once ran out of lemon juice and substituted 1-2 teaspoons of lemon-lime soda instead. It turned out fabulous!
The only key is not to overcook the fish. As Shark Sandwich says (and with a username like that, he should know), for whitefish you’re generally looking for flakiness, basically when the translucent muscle turns opaque.
I would also recommend pan-frying it (or grilling it), especially if you are cooking it with the skin on. If you’re being very careful about fat, you don’t even really need that much oil. If you use a non-stick skillet and coat it with some Pam or similar cooking spray, you’ll be fine.
Depending on the thickness of your fish and your heat, the fish will cook pretty damn quickly. For thin tilapia filets, we’re looking at around 2 minutes a side. The general ballpark rule is 10 minutes total cooking time per inch of thickness. Personally, I find it’s a little faster than that.
You can grill it in a nonstick pan without any sort of oil, butter or spray. Pulykamell is right, 2 minutes per side is almost always enough. Usually, I’ll get the plastic spatula I’m using and press down with one of the edges on the center of the fillet. If it cuts it in half, it is definitely done.
With saltwater fish, you don’t even half to cook them all the way through. Tuna, for example, is amazing when you sear it. You get a nice crispy crust on the outside, and a delicious raw center that practically melts in your mouth.
I really enjoy baked soy-glazed salmon. Here’s what I do:
In a cup, mix:
2 cloves minced or pressed garlic
1 inch grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce (can use low-sodium if necessary)
1-2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp some kind of vinegar (I use rice or apple cider vinegar)
3 tbsp brown sugar
Put the sauce in a ziploc freezer bag, add salmon. Marinate at least 1/2 hour; if you plan ahead, overnight is best. When you’re ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 350, line a baking sheet with foil, plop the salmon on there (with our without marinade, though the marinade can get really sticky and burn to the foil because of the sugar), bake for 15 minutes. Check for done-ness. When the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork, it’s done.
This is really good with green beans that have been sauteed in garlic and olive oil with or without a little salt.
One time I was fishing in a geothermically active area. There was one unusual (non-thermal) pool there, which was very deep but into which a hot spring emptied. The water from the hot spring was literally boiling. As you know, hot water rises and cold water sinks. Since the pool was deep, it developed a layer of hot water a few feet thick. The top was scalding. So I hooked a trout that was lurking deep, and pulled it in very, very slowly. By the time it had passed through the hot water layer, it was fully cooked.
Pan-fried in butter and EVOO is my method of choice. It’s easy to do, easy to check and is visually appealing. Make sure you dry the fish well with paper towels and salt it a bit before cooking. Remove any pin bones you see. I also remove any skin and excess fat, which can be unpleasant. A squeeze of lemon on the finished product if you want, and it’s perfect.
A friend of mine spear-fishes near a lava flow in Hawaii. He wears an insulated drysuit, and uses an exceptionally long spear. When he spears a fish, he swims over to the lava flow and holds the fish over it. Cooked, and pre-seasoned with salt. (He says this is very dangerous, and you have to be a little mad to try it.)
He says it’s actually illegal to dive there, so he hasn’t produced any incriminating evidence.
I detect that perhaps you think I’m pulling your leg. :dubious:
I could tell you about when I was a kid in San Diego. Fish would swim right up onto the beach, and you could just pick them up and put them in a bucket. Of course, the tide and Moon had to be just right.
Or: If you’re riding a raft on the Humbolt Current from South America, flying fish will fly up and land on it and you can pick them up and cook them.
Actually, June 12th is the first day of this summer’s grunion run. We’ve taken some home before but I never really liked the taste. They’re awfully fishy tasting. Most people like to fry them. Frankly, they make better bait than food.
Well, my main objection was that fishing line would either completely melt in the heat, or weaken enough to snap off under the added pressure of a fish.
I don’t know enough about diving to doubt you though. It sounds possible. If it’s hot enough to cook fish, shouldn’t be hot enough to cook human too?
Maybe South America would increase your odds of seeing that, but I’ve had flying fish jump into a boat on two different occasions, locally in So Cal. One was at the Huntington Flats (off of Huntington Beach, I guess), and the other was around Catalina. I think both times were during warmer water years.
I’ve had both Yellowtail and Bluefin sashimi within minutes of catching them. Both were delicious but a fishing boat doesn’t have the most sanitary conditions.
I don’t think the Yellowtail we have here is the same as the one they use for making hamachi. Hamachi is made from Japanese Amberjack, while our local ones are California Yellowtail.
