Page 486 - YC Cooking School

Essential Guide to Cooking with Fish

yuppiechef.com/cooking-school.htm

The art of frying fish

Choose the right equipment
Fish cooks best in a cast iron or solid, heavy-based stainless steel pan. Thin, flimsy pans heat
up too quickly, and they tend to have uneven hotspots so you won’t get even heat
distribution.

A medium heat will do the trick
When frying, a good tip is to pre-heat the pan to a medium heat. Medium is the magic word
here – anything hotter than this and you run the risk of the fillets burning or curling and
ruining all your hard prep work. Curling happens when the fibres of the fish “shock” as they
come into contact with the hot pan. The fibres that are in direct contact with the heat will
contract faster than those that are not, causing the fish to curl.

Season, then dust with flour for a golden crust
Just like when frying red meat, it’s important to season fish with salt and freshly ground
black pepper just beforehand. Dust one side of the fish fillet with flour. As well as giving it a
beautiful golden crust that looks gorgeous and tastes delicious, this carb coating also stops

the fish from sticking to the pan.

Cook the presentation side first
Always make sure that the presentation side (or the side you’ve dusted with flour) goes into
the pan first.

Don’t overcrowd the pan
Fish like their space. Adding too many fish fillets to the pan at once will result in the
temperature of the pan dropping radically. The flesh will then begin to weep and the fish

1/3