As of: January 19, 2024 6:07 p.m
Grilling, boiling, steaming or frying: fresh fish can be processed into a delicious meal using very different techniques.
Which method is the right one depends not only on personal taste but also on the type of fish. Some species have very tender, soft flesh, while other edible fish have rather firm or coarse-grained flesh. The fat content also plays an important role when choosing the cooking method.
Fry fish in the pan
Connoisseurs leave the skin on when frying fish fillets. This keeps the fish juicier.
Smaller fish such as trout, plaice, mackerel or herring are particularly suitable for frying whole or fillets in the pan. Before frying, sprinkle the fish with lemon juice, season lightly with salt and then dredge in flour. Then fry over medium heat in rapeseed oil or clarified butter until golden brown. Tip: When frying fish fillets, leave the skin on the meat. Fry the fish on the skin side until it is almost cooked through and only turn it briefly at the end. If you use coarse rye flour for flouring, you will get a particularly crispy crust.
As an alternative to just flouring, you can also dip skinless fish fillet pieces through beaten egg before frying and bread them with breadcrumbs. Frying in egg shells is also popular: for four fish fillets, three whole eggs and one egg yolk are cracked and seasoned with pepper and salt. First flour the fillets, then roll them in the egg mixture and then fry them in the pan. The fish stays nice and juicy in the egg shell.
Poach in vegetable stock
In addition to frying, poaching fish is one of the classic preparation methods. Whole fish or fish cutlets are ideal, in which the meat is held together by skin and bones during cooking and is thus protected from falling apart. Haddock and pollock are particularly suitable, but also white fish such as carp and tench as well as trout.
When poaching fish fillets, the broth should no longer boil during cooking.
To poach, first make a broth of water, salt, herbal vinegar (alternatively white wine) and chopped soup greens. Elongated pots or roasters that also fit larger fish lengthwise are well suited for poaching. Depending on your personal taste, bay leaves, allspice, peppercorns, juniper berries and cloves are suitable for flavoring. Let the stock simmer for about 15 minutes so that the flavors can fully develop. Then turn down the heat until the stock no longer boils.
Fish cooks gently in the broth
Carefully insert the fish with a slotted spoon so that it is completely covered by the liquid and let it sit until cooked. Under no circumstances should the liquid boil. A trout needs about 15 minutes to reach optimal cooking level. For fish fillets, about ten minutes is enough. If the fish stays in the broth for too long, the flesh becomes dry or even falls apart. A special variant is the “blue” preparation. To do this, bring vinegar to the boil separately and pour it hot over the fish, such as trout or carp. Then cook the fish in stock together with the vinegar as described. The skin turns a beautiful blue color.
Cooking in the steam basket
When steaming, the fish must not touch the simmering liquid directly.
Very tender, lean fish meat can be prepared particularly gently and without fat in a steamer basket. As with poaching, first make a spice stock. Place a steamer basket with a whole fish or fish fillet over the simmering stock. Add a little salt and cover or stuff the fish with herbs and lemon slices to taste. Important: The fish must not touch the boiling liquid; the meat only cooks due to the rising steam when the pot lid is closed. The cooking time is usually around 15 minutes; larger fish are cooked when the dorsal fin can be easily pulled out.
Steam in your own juice
Steaming means cooking with little liquid in a closed saucepan.
Even when steaming, fat and oil can be largely avoided during preparation. The fish is cooked with a little white wine or broth – the bottom of the pot should be covered with a finger’s breadth of liquid – over medium heat in a closed pot. If you like, you can also place the fish on a bed of vegetables. The preparation method also works at 180 degrees in the oven in a roasting pan with a lid. Both fillet pieces and whole fish are suitable.
Deep frying in beer batter
Fried fish only becomes crispy if the beer batter coats the fillet very thinly.
Preparing fish in the deep fryer is greasy and rather unhealthy, but very tasty and juicy. To fry in hot oil, coat the fish fillets in beer batter beforehand. A simple beer batter can be easily prepared with one egg, 60 milliliters of light beer, 100 grams of flour, a pinch of salt, two tablespoons of milk and half a tablespoon of oil. Mix everything until smooth and let it rest for about 30 minutes. Coat the fish fillets thinly with the batter and fry in the hot deep fryer. If the batter is too thick on the fillets, it won’t be crispy and will have the consistency of pancake batter. Tip: Remove the basket from the deep fryer before frying, otherwise it will stick to the dough and the fried fish cannot be removed from the fat unscathed. Tartar sauce and potato salad go well with fried fish.
Preparing fish in the oven
The oven is particularly suitable for preparing whole fish. One possibility: Spread a bed of vegetable or potato slices seasoned with salt, pepper and herbs on a deep baking tray. Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and pour in some white wine, then place the whole fish on top. Brush the fish skin with a little olive oil and season with salt. To keep the fish juicy, cover the top with lemon or orange slices. Fill the belly with herbs or lemon or orange slices to taste. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes at around 180 degrees. If necessary, pre-cook the potato slices in the oven without the fish for about ten minutes, as they usually need a little longer.
Larger fish in particular stay juicy when cooked in the oven.
Fish fillets are also great for cooking in the oven in packets made of oiled parchment paper. Both methods of preparation also work without a bed of vegetables.
Cooking whole fish in a crust of coarse salt is also popular. The meat remains aromatic and juicy. To do this, mix plenty of salt with beaten egg white and form a bed on a baking tray. Place the fish on top and then wrap it on all sides. After baking in the oven, carefully crack open the crust, skin the fish and carefully lift out the fillets.
Grilling on charcoal
Firm-fleshed or fatty fish can be fried in grill baskets directly over the embers.
The barbecue in summer doesn’t just have to be a highlight for meat lovers, fish can also be excellently prepared on the charcoal grill. However, always protect tender and lean fish fillets from the strong heat of an open fire so that they do not become dry. Tip: Wrap the fish in banana leaves, leeks or grilled smoked veneers (wood wraps). Wood wraps are available in hardware stores, among other places, and should be soaked or soaked in white wine about two hours before grilling. Cook the packages on the grill – not directly in the embers.
Larger fish fillets can also be cooked excellently on soaked cedar wood boards; they give the meat a delicate smoky flavor. This works best on grills that have a lid and allow top heat.
Firm-fleshed and fatty whole fish such as mackerel, trout, sea bream or large herring are particularly suitable for grilling; they can be placed directly on the grill using grill baskets. Before seasoning, lightly oil the skin and make cuts across it a few times to prevent the fish from bursting uncontrollably.
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01/21/2024 | 4:00 p.m