Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. But teach a man how to cook fish properly and you keep him licking his lips for a lifetime. With such brilliant philosophy to inspire me, I dedicate this column to giving you tips on making sure your seafood comes out juicy and flavourful.
Fish is a great source of healthy lean protein in our diet, and even the fattier fish give you healthy omega-3 fatty acids. They don't have a lot of tough connective tissue and heavy skeleton like land animals, because the water provides buoyancy, and they can remain almost weightless by simply storing a layer of oil or gases lighter than water in their bodies. This makes their flesh leaner, milder and softer than land creatures.
But it's because of that very reason, however, that the number one reason for ruining a fish dish is overcooking. Fish cooks quickly enough to go from nice and juicy to dry and leathery in minutes. Sadly, I've seen far too many people cook it the way they would cook chicken or lamb, which is tragic.
There isn't enough space in this column to explain the myriad ways in which you can cook fish--pan-frying, deep-frying, steaming, braising, grilling, baking and sauteing--so I'll try to stick to a couple of important ones.
If you're using a dry heat method such as sauteing, make sure your fish fillets are 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Heat the pan and add oil. If you've marinated the fish, shake off any excess marinade before you put the fish in the pan. This is necessary because something called the Maillard reaction happens only when the surface of the food is dry.
In layman's terms, that's the browning of the meat surface when dry meat meets a surface hot enough.
This browning causes the creation of delicious new flavour compounds and increases yumminess (yes, that's the scientific term for it). I'll leave you to google the term for more info if you're interested in the science, but the important thing to remember is that dumping marinade into the pan will not let the fish brown until the marinade boils off completely, at which point the fish could already be overcooked.
The ideal time for fish fillets to spend in a pan is about three minutes on each side. After three minutes, flip the fish and cook it for another three minutes. Don't flip too often because the fish will fall apart. Factors that will change this time slightly are the thickness of the fish piece (thinner cooks faster), whether it is with bone or boneless (bone is an insulator and increases cooking time slightly), and the temperature of the fish before you start cooking (ice-cold fish will make a mess and take longer). Very thinly sliced fish fillets don't need to be flipped over at all. This isn't an ISO 9000-style absolute guide. The kind of fish you use will also affect cooking time. Fattier fish will take a little longer; leaner fish, not so much. ``Cook's instinct“ plays a big role in turning good food to great food.
Without being a slave to a kitchen timer, there is a simpler method to check the fish while it's cooking.
When you're nearing the total cooking time and have about a minute to go, poke a small corner of the fish with a fork or a toothpick. Properly cooked fish will be opaque all the way through and should flake into nice chunks. It will also appear moist. Fish that's not quite done won't be fully opaque. Fish that's overcooked will be opaque but will flake into small, dry bits.
If you use a wet method of cooking such as Indian curries, your fish will take a little longer to cook because it's not in contact with anything hotter than the boiling water, but it will still cook fast enough and long cooking times such as an hour will dry out the fish. Thinly sliced fillets will still cook in a few minutes in curries, while larger pieces will not take longer than 10-15 minutes.
If your curry needs to be simmered for a long time to bring out flavour, I suggest you do that without the fish at first, and add the fish only towards the end. (I shall write about techniques such as grilling, deep-frying, steaming and handling whole fish in a future column.)
Since we're talking about seafood, let me throw in some knowledge about cooking prawns and squid, too.
They need more attention simply because if you turn away for a few seconds while they cook, you could be left with pieces of leather to eat.
Prawns: Prawns are ideal for quick cooking methods like stir-frying because they get done in no time at all.
That they taste good even with just a bit of salt, and pepper is a bonus. If you throw prawns into a hot pan and stir them around with your seasoning, they are usually done in about a minute and a bit. If you're stir- frying them, it's closer to 30 seconds. Luckily, you can simply watch for them to change colour. When they're done, their flesh will turn opaque and there will be a bright orange hue to their tails. This can also appear as orange rings on their body, though this will vary depending on the geographical origin of the prawns.
When you see this happen, wait no more. Immediately take them off the heat. If you overcook them, they can't be salvaged unless you then cook them on medium heat for another 15-20 minutes. Don't worry about it being undercooked. The heat from the pan will continue to cook the prawns for another 30 seconds or so. So slightly undercooked prawns will be just fine and dandy when they're being served.
Squid: A lot of people don't like squid. It's far too easy to mess squid up and the result is too unappealing for anyone to give it a second chance. What a pity, because squid is both relatively inexpensive and also yummy when done right.
Squid will be done in about 30-60 seconds on medium heat and about 15 seconds on a hot wok. As with prawns, keep a keen eye on the squid. The instant it turns opaque, stop the cooking. This will capture the squid at its most tender, giving you a dish that's a treat. If you are using squid in a dish that needs slightly longer cooking, cut the squid into bigger rectangular pieces rather than the rings they're usually cut into.
As with prawns, if you miss the chance to get them out early, you'll have to wait for another 15 minutes on medium heat before the tenderness returns.
I hope this guide to cooking fish has proven useful.
In the next few columns, I'll be writing about how to cook meat and vegetables just right. Until then, enjoy your lean protein. I Madhu Menon is a chef, restaurant consultant and food writer.
Fish is a great source of healthy lean protein in our diet, and even the fattier fish give you healthy omega-3 fatty acids. They don't have a lot of tough connective tissue and heavy skeleton like land animals, because the water provides buoyancy, and they can remain almost weightless by simply storing a layer of oil or gases lighter than water in their bodies. This makes their flesh leaner, milder and softer than land creatures.
But it's because of that very reason, however, that the number one reason for ruining a fish dish is overcooking. Fish cooks quickly enough to go from nice and juicy to dry and leathery in minutes. Sadly, I've seen far too many people cook it the way they would cook chicken or lamb, which is tragic.
There isn't enough space in this column to explain the myriad ways in which you can cook fish--pan-frying, deep-frying, steaming, braising, grilling, baking and sauteing--so I'll try to stick to a couple of important ones.
If you're using a dry heat method such as sauteing, make sure your fish fillets are 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Heat the pan and add oil. If you've marinated the fish, shake off any excess marinade before you put the fish in the pan. This is necessary because something called the Maillard reaction happens only when the surface of the food is dry.
In layman's terms, that's the browning of the meat surface when dry meat meets a surface hot enough.
This browning causes the creation of delicious new flavour compounds and increases yumminess (yes, that's the scientific term for it). I'll leave you to google the term for more info if you're interested in the science, but the important thing to remember is that dumping marinade into the pan will not let the fish brown until the marinade boils off completely, at which point the fish could already be overcooked.
The ideal time for fish fillets to spend in a pan is about three minutes on each side. After three minutes, flip the fish and cook it for another three minutes. Don't flip too often because the fish will fall apart. Factors that will change this time slightly are the thickness of the fish piece (thinner cooks faster), whether it is with bone or boneless (bone is an insulator and increases cooking time slightly), and the temperature of the fish before you start cooking (ice-cold fish will make a mess and take longer). Very thinly sliced fish fillets don't need to be flipped over at all. This isn't an ISO 9000-style absolute guide. The kind of fish you use will also affect cooking time. Fattier fish will take a little longer; leaner fish, not so much. ``Cook's instinct“ plays a big role in turning good food to great food.
Without being a slave to a kitchen timer, there is a simpler method to check the fish while it's cooking.
When you're nearing the total cooking time and have about a minute to go, poke a small corner of the fish with a fork or a toothpick. Properly cooked fish will be opaque all the way through and should flake into nice chunks. It will also appear moist. Fish that's not quite done won't be fully opaque. Fish that's overcooked will be opaque but will flake into small, dry bits.
If you use a wet method of cooking such as Indian curries, your fish will take a little longer to cook because it's not in contact with anything hotter than the boiling water, but it will still cook fast enough and long cooking times such as an hour will dry out the fish. Thinly sliced fillets will still cook in a few minutes in curries, while larger pieces will not take longer than 10-15 minutes.
If your curry needs to be simmered for a long time to bring out flavour, I suggest you do that without the fish at first, and add the fish only towards the end. (I shall write about techniques such as grilling, deep-frying, steaming and handling whole fish in a future column.)
Since we're talking about seafood, let me throw in some knowledge about cooking prawns and squid, too.
They need more attention simply because if you turn away for a few seconds while they cook, you could be left with pieces of leather to eat.
Prawns: Prawns are ideal for quick cooking methods like stir-frying because they get done in no time at all.
That they taste good even with just a bit of salt, and pepper is a bonus. If you throw prawns into a hot pan and stir them around with your seasoning, they are usually done in about a minute and a bit. If you're stir- frying them, it's closer to 30 seconds. Luckily, you can simply watch for them to change colour. When they're done, their flesh will turn opaque and there will be a bright orange hue to their tails. This can also appear as orange rings on their body, though this will vary depending on the geographical origin of the prawns.
When you see this happen, wait no more. Immediately take them off the heat. If you overcook them, they can't be salvaged unless you then cook them on medium heat for another 15-20 minutes. Don't worry about it being undercooked. The heat from the pan will continue to cook the prawns for another 30 seconds or so. So slightly undercooked prawns will be just fine and dandy when they're being served.
Squid: A lot of people don't like squid. It's far too easy to mess squid up and the result is too unappealing for anyone to give it a second chance. What a pity, because squid is both relatively inexpensive and also yummy when done right.
Squid will be done in about 30-60 seconds on medium heat and about 15 seconds on a hot wok. As with prawns, keep a keen eye on the squid. The instant it turns opaque, stop the cooking. This will capture the squid at its most tender, giving you a dish that's a treat. If you are using squid in a dish that needs slightly longer cooking, cut the squid into bigger rectangular pieces rather than the rings they're usually cut into.
As with prawns, if you miss the chance to get them out early, you'll have to wait for another 15 minutes on medium heat before the tenderness returns.
I hope this guide to cooking fish has proven useful.
In the next few columns, I'll be writing about how to cook meat and vegetables just right. Until then, enjoy your lean protein. I Madhu Menon is a chef, restaurant consultant and food writer.
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