Page 503 - YC Cooking School

fish would probably discolour or burn before it’s cooked through. In the oven, it cooks faster
since its enveloped by heat. Take care when selecting your cooking equipment and make

sure that the pan you use has an oven-proof handle: you’ll want to transport it from the
stovetop directly to the oven.

Steaming
This method is ideal for portion-sized fish, and involves wrapping the fish in tin foil together

with some aromatics like herbs and spices, as well as cooking liquid – anything from white
wine to permod. The foil parcel is then sealed and placed into a hot oven to steam and stew
in its own juices. This tasty technique is also great if you’re cooking lean or very large fish,
because the fish can cook through for longer periods of time without drying out.

All three of these methods require an oven temperature of 200ºC. The exact cooking time
will vary according to the size and thickness of the fish you’re cooking, which in turn
depends on what your recipe says. The same rules as frying and grilling apply when
checking for doneness. About 10 minutes before the recommended cooking time, check the
flesh of the fish, looking out for a change in texture and colour.

Cheat sheet for this lesson’s recipes

Ingredient substitutions, shortcuts and time-saving tips

1. Although the end result won't be quite as spicy, you can replace the chorizo in the
Hake recipe with salami or bacon.
2. If you don’t have an oven-proof frying pan, use a regular frying pan to sear the fish
cutlets before transporting them to a pre-heated oven-proof dish to finish.
3. It’s easy to make your own preserved lemon, but if you’re in a hurry you can buy it at
most good deli’s.
4. Don’t drink alcohol? Replace the white wine in the Black Bream recipe with an equal
quantity of white grape or apple juice. Then for a bit of extra acidity mix in up to a
tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar.

Learn to cook online at learn.yuppiechef.com

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