Sustainable Seafood 7. Cooking Fish - Simple Steps to Savory Seafood
In which the E@L shares his meager but useful culinary skills
It is NOT my intention for this series of articles to be a cookbook. Truth be told, I am not much of a cook. But what I do cook is mostly seafood. If you want interesting and delicious recipes, there are many good seafood cookbooks available. My mantra is KISS: Keep it Simple Seafood.
I have tried many different recipes, but what I find works best is simple. I don’t usually plan my meals a day ahead or go to the grocery store with a list of specific items that will be rarely used. When I come home from work, I want to be able to fix dinner in a half-hour. I can’t do that with a recipe that requires unusual ingredients, so I work with what I have on hand. I always have frozen fish in my freezer, which may include salmon, halibut, Alaskan rockfish, and maybe some mahi-mahi. And I usually have enough ingredients to make a simple sauce or marinade. And that’s all you really need. This document includes some simple steps to making savory seafood dinners, without lots of fuss.
I have trouble following complicated recipes because everything is measured in different quantities. If I really wanted to do that I would have worked a bit harder at basic chemistry. I tend to gook by gestalt – a bit of this, a bit of that, maybe a bit more of something else. And I tend to use recipes that I can remember easily. I can’t remember specific measurements (1 Tbsp of this, and 2 tsp of that), but I do remember ratios, such as “use twice as much vinegar as oil”. I have included measured quantities in some of these recipes, but only as a guideline. Don’t feel like you need to follow them, but change them as you see fit. You do you.
The worst thing you can do to fish is overcook it. Almost all fish can be eaten raw, and some are better that way. I prefer not to eat raw salmon, though, because it can contain mammalian parasites, but they are destroyed by deep freezing. Raw fish is slightly translucent, so cook it until it just becomes opaque, or to about 125 °F. It won’t hurt to take it out of the oven (or the skillet) early, while the center is still a bit translucent, because it will continue to cook for a few minutes. I strongly recommend buying a digital meat thermometer to test your fish. I started using one recently and it has really improved my cooking.
General Rules for Cooking Fish
Before we get to individual recipes for specific fish, there are some basic rules you should know about buying and cooking fish.
Buying Fish
Buy Fresh (If possible). Almost any fresh fish will be delicious.
Buy frozen if you can’t buy fresh. This is the best method for imported fish, and for wild salmon, halibut, mahi-mahi, and ahi tuna, that are shipped around the world.
Buy Local. Locally caught seafood will be the freshest, and supports your local fishing community. On the Eastern Shore, local seafoods include black sea bass, flounder, rockfish (striped bass), blue catfish, blue crab, oysters, scallops, and clams. In New England, cod, flounder, black sea bass, scallops, and of course lobster, are all local. On the West Coast, salmon, rockfish, halibut, sablefish, lingcod and Dungeness crab rule. And in the southeast, look for grouper, snapper, and mahi-mahi.
Buy Regional. If you can’t find locally caught fish, buy some that are caught within a few hundred miles. In our region, that includes tuna, swordfish, mahi-mahi, grouper, lobster, and scallops.
Buy Sustainable. Look for certifications from Seafood Watch, the Marine Stewardship Council, and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Visit their websites to learn about fish from your region.
Is my fish Fresh?
When buying fish, ensure you get the best quality by asking questions and inspecting the product. I try to buy most of my seafood directly from the people who catch it, often at local farmer’s markets, or from a local seafood market that I trust. Get to know your local seafood vendor, and ask them questions. When was it delivered? Was it frozen or fresh?
Check your fish for the following:
Smell: The smell should be neutral, or slightly oceanic. Avoid anything that smells ‘fishy’, or like ammonia, which is due to the presence of trimethylamine.
Eyes should be clear, shiny, and bulging, but not cloudy
Gills should be moist and bright red; not sticky, slimy, or gray
Skin should be smooth and shiny, with scales attached (though some may be de-scaled)
Slime is OK, but it should be clear and odorless
Flesh should be firm and moist, and bounces back from finger pressure, like memory foam. It should not be soft, have dry edges, or retain a finger depression.
Cooking Fish
Cook within 2 days of purchase, or less if the fish is oily (eg., salmon).
All fish can be baked, fried, grilled, or air-fried.
Don’t overcook! Just cook until the fish is opaque and flaky, between 120-135 °F.
Don’t oversauce. Fish have delicate flavors that are easily buried.
Freeze fresh fish for up to 6 months. It will keep up to a year if vacuum-sealed.
You Are What You Eat
Be careful and knowledgeable about the seafood that you eat. Use your power as a consumer to support best practices by selecting seafoods that are sustainable, have low environmental impacts, and contribute to the social welfare of people working in the fishing and processing industry.
Eat sparingly of the following, due to mercury levels: Swordfish, Tuna (Ahi, Bluefin), and mackerel.
Try to avoid fried seafood, as it may be loaded with Omega-6 oils.
Don’t buy fish or shrimp breaded off-site (i.e., not in the restaurant). It may be contaminated with microplastics or PFA’s.
Avoid raw seafood, unless it was previously deep-frozen.
Try to eat fish close to its source. Even though it may be well preserved by deep-freezing, restaurants far from the source may not know how to prepare it well.
Avoid buying non-sustainable seafood products. These include Jonah crab, Orange roughy, and possibly Chilean Sea bass (but this may be improving).
Avoid buying shrimp from Thailand, or any seafood processed in China, due to concerns about human rights and enforced labor. I will write more about that in a later chapter.
Simple Savory Sauces
I won’t include recipes in this document, as they would take up too much space and change the overall focus. In keeping with my generalist approach, however, here are directions for simple savory sauces that can be made with a few ingredients you probably have on hand. Mix these up while cooking the fish. If grilling, brush the sauce on after turning the fish flesh-side-up. If baking, spread the sauce on the plate, and place the fish on top of the sauce.
Every sauce can include some combination of these ingredients:
Salt and Pepper – preferably fresh ground
Oil or thickener – butter, olive or avocado oil, mayonaise, yogurt, cream, and/or honey
Liquid – White wine, lemon or lime juice, or coconut milk
Flavorings – Garlic, onion, shallots, ginger, wasabi; Soy or Teriyaki sauce
Spices – 3 C’s : Cumin, coriander, curry
Fresh Herbs – Dill, cilantro, parsley, basil
While this information applies to most seafoods, I will address specific seafoods individually in later chapters. Paid subscribers, however, will get separate posts with recipes and cooking instructions.
Bon apetit! Itadakimasu!