I have no idea where to buy fresh sardines. I’ve never seen them for sale. But mackerel is available. I may try it.
I make that. Made it last week. Roomie liked it, but thought the sauce overpowered the fish by the time she got round to eating the leftovers a few days later.
This is a good thread. My fish-cooking skills are lacking. Teriyaki salmon, dill salmon with dill-lemon Béchamel sauce, Cajun salmon, chipotle salmon, that Mediterranean-style tilapia I mentioned, fried fish, fish’n’chips-style fish, and tuna melts are about all I can do confidently. (The prawn stir-fry and the jambalaya turned out very nicely, but those aren’t ‘fish’ dishes.)
Frozen sardines work fine, too. If you’ve never had grilled sardines, you owe it to yourself to try them. They are sublime.
ETA: According to my research, you might be able to find freh sardines at some place called Uwajimaya in Bellevue.
I’ve never seen frozen sardines either. (I do see frozen herrings, but I suspect those are meant to be used as bait and I don’t know if they’d be good to eat.) Unfortunately Bellevue is rather inconvenient for me, since I usually don’t have my car with me in Seattle and I stay on the 5 all the way home. I think there’s an Uwajimaya in Seattle. I’d have to go there on a ‘car day’.
According to this blog post, someone was able to find fresh sardines them at Pike’s Place fish market. As for the frozen ones, I’ve had luck finding them in Asian and Mediterranean groceries. ETA: Also, a place called “Ballard Market” looks like a promising lead.
I’ll look for them at PPFM and the other fishmonger(s). There have been so many posts about fried sardines, I really want to try them.
The blogger had a good idea: Act like a tourist. I only give myself half an hour for lunch, and it takes 20 minutes to walk to Pike Place and back; so I don’t have a lot of time to just hang out. Roomie and I spent an afternoon in Seattle, and she liked it. I’ll have to roust her out when she’s not working and go down on a Saturday morning. Oh, and the blogger had a pic of Don & Joe’s. I’ve been thinking it’s about time for roasted Legolam.
Heh - I probably got it from you then. I know I got it off the Boards, so it’s probably your recipe. It’s delicious.
I found that a fish turner makes a big difference. My fish used to fall to pieces, but now it browns nicely, and I can get it out of the pan.
I thought you said ‘fish tuner’! I was going to tell you you can’t tuna fish!
Scallops are also easy. However, there is a problem with most scallops you find at an average grocery’s seafood section: they are wet-pack scallops, which are soaked in a phosphate solution which causes them to absorb water (about 25% by weight or so). The effect of this is almost like brining–it will make the scallop moister on the inside, but it will also cause the scallop to be practically impossible to sear and properly brown. If there’s a way to get a good crust on a wet-pack scallop, I haven’t found it.
So, buy dry-pack sea scallops. You will pay a premium for them, but if you’re doing seared scallops, that’s the only way to go. (If you bread/batter and fry, then you’ll be okay with wet-pack.)
Here’s what you do: place your scallops on some paper towels, and blot them dry. Get them as dry as you possibly can–you might want to let them sit between a layer of paper towels for a few minutes so the towels can absorb all the moisture they can.
Heat up a skillet (I like cast iron) over high heat with an equal combination of butter and vegetable oil. Salt and pepper your scallops. When the skillet is good and hot, just about to smoke, place your scallops in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan. (Crowding inhibits browning.) Cook for 1 minute per side, and do not touch them as they’re searing, except to flip. (The second side might only take half a minute to cook through.)
Serve with melted butter from pan and some lemon. As with other seafood, the main trick is not to overcook them. Depending on what levels of doneness you prefer, you may want to extend cooking time to two minutes per side.
ETA: Here’s a good video tutorial from Simply Ming.