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Top Tips on Cooking Fish
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Fish For a table of translations for French names for fish, click here.
It is difficult to tell if a fish is fresh unless it is whole, however one way that you can tell if a filet of fish is fresh... if it smells of fish, then it isn't fresh! It should in fact smell of the sea. Also, look for a springiness in the flesh, if an indent stays in the meat after lightly pressing in a finger, then it is getting old.
When buying whole fish, look for clear eyes, pink and clean inside the gills and a nice firm feel to the flesh with a skin that has a slight texture.
When pan-frying or grilling a meaty fish, you can tell when it is cooked if you push a cocktail stick into the meat... if there is no resistance to the stick, then its cooked.
When pan-frying fish filets, always start cooking with the skin-side down first. To stop them curling up, either push down into the pan for the first 30 seconds, or make some slight scores in the skin before cooking.
The skin acts as a protection for the meat, so cook 90% on the skin side and when only the top 1mm or 2mm are still pink, turn it over and cook for the last 10% of the time.
When pan frying, the pan does not need to be too hot. Medium-hot will allow the fish to cook through properly. Always baste the fish in the hot oil at the last moment, before serving.
After handling fish, washing in hot water will cook the smell onto your hands, so use cold water and lots of soap instead.
Sea bass has very sharp barbs on the fins, so you would normally remove them with a strong pair of scissors.
If you have bought good quality fresh fish, try not to over-complicate the flavours that you put with it, let the fish speak for itself in the mouth.
Line caught wild fish is almost always larger and of better quality than farmed versions.
When removing the pin bones from a filet of fish, have a bowl of cold water beside you so that you can dip the tweezers into the water between each bone... this allows the bone to fall off the tweezers quickly and makes the operation much easier.
Shellfish Before cooking mussels, take any open ones, tap the shell and watch the gap between halves. If it closes firmer after the tap, then it is alive (and good), if not then discard it because it is already dead. Also discard any that have broken shells.
When cooking clams and mussels, you can tell when they are cooked... when they have opened. Any with unopened shells should be discarded.
Cooking langoustine or prawns with the shells on will keep the flesh moist. They can then be shelled before serving or left for the guest to do themselves, depending on how they are served.
Scallops can easily be opened by using putting a knife into the shell near the hinge and cutting the membrane that hold the two shell halves together. Use a spoon to scoop out the complete muscle and flesh.
To remove the flesh from a complete scallop, push a thumb through the membrane that surrounds the flesh, then force the fleshy part upwards, tearing around the membrane and releasing the meat.
Mussels from cold water regions are much better quality and size than from warm water areas.
After cooking mussels (normally in white wine), try to save the liquid and use as the base for any sauce that you will make to go with it.
Mussels should be well cleaned before use and any 'beards' (strands that are attached to the shell) should be removed.
General When making fish stock, never boil the fish bones/head/etc. for more than 15 to 20 minutes. If you do, then it will turn bitter and the calcium will be released from the fish bones, making it cloudy.
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