How to Cook Fish (Fish Types, Cooking Methods, Doneness)

today we are talking about fish types and cooking methods by the end of this video you should have a pretty good idea of how to cook any fish yes even fish you haven't seen before this video covers thin fish in other words these guys not those so slaughter Ellen asked this question I'm traveling a lot and liked to cook in my Airbnb apartment so if you will explain how can I cook the fish I see first time in my life it can be great for example ask the seller is it ocean fish or river fish and use your thermometer actually it's none of the above there is no major culinary schism between ocean fish and river fish what makes the biggest difference is the texture of the fish and believe it or not I don't use a thermometer what I know normally I am all about precision but that's exactly why I am against the use of thermometer when it comes to fish at least most fish don't worry I'll explain we have a lot of ground to cover in this video so let's get started with fish types what makes one fish different from another it's three things texture fat content and thickness texture is the most important factor in choosing your cooking method so that's where we'll start here is the spectrum of fish textures from super fragile to super firm some fish are quite predictable cut is fragile swordfish is firm but some fish vary depending on their size season and the exact species for example wild striped bass is sometimes right in the middle and sometimes moderately firm while little farm-raised striped bass is usually quite delicate luckily the only time you can get into series do do with choosing your cooking method are the extremes of this texture spectrum never Grill fragile fish they'll just fall right through yes I know you could wrap them in foil and put them on the grill but that's not really grilling that's baking undergrowth if you really want to grill those fish you have to grill them hold this way they stay put together as a package when grilling delicate fish make sure you grill them with the skin as skinless salmon filet might meet the same unfortunate fate on the grill as Cod but with the skin it usually comes out unharmed of course the easiest fish to grill are these ones they stay together they don't flare up too much basically if you are new to grilling start with swordfish mahi tuna thick striped bass and if you need any help with grilling fish check out my first grilling video linked below the other extreme of this texture spectrum really does not like wet cooking methods in other words poaching and steaming you know a poached swordfish is as appetizing as a poached ribeye steak basically it's disgusting so if you're dealing with mahi groupers swordfish tuna marlin just please stay away from what methods and this wet method ban also extends to brown fleshed fish like bluefish mackerel sardines herring they are really yucky if you poacher steamed them now let's talk about fat content have you noticed how the fat content and thickness are completely separate characteristics of your fish you can have a really thin fillet that is fatty sardines for example and a huge thick fillet that is completely lean like halibut or yellowfin tuna the fat content of some fish is quite predictable farm-raised salmon is always fatty cut is always lean but many fish fall somewhere in the middle and for some wild fish especially large fish the fat content can really vary with the Seas for example swordfish can be beautifully fatty in the early fall but most of the year its fat content fall somewhere in the middle how do you know how much fat your fish has will you cook it in a skillet and then you find out how much fat whose doubt of it and then you know for next thing luckily most of the time you do not really need to take the fat content into account when you choose your cooking methods the only things that might not be a good idea is deep-frying really fatty fish like I don't know deep fried mackerel or sardines seems a little bit too greasy to me and also when I choose fish for stock I tried to choose fish with low to medium fat content and with very mild flavor something like hay cod haddock branzino sea bream halibut those all work really well for stock and very flavorful fish like salmon bluefish mackerel mmm I don't know about that I would save those for something else not making stock for grilling if you're grilling fillets it's best to choose fish that has at least a little bit of fat content so that the fish doesn't dry out on the ground if you're grilling a completely lean fish grill at home if the fish is small like red snapper or grill it in steak form if the fish is large like halibut because even the fish whose flesh is completely alien have a little bit of fat content around the skin and bones you also want to be careful with grilling fish that they extremely high in fat things like salmon Chilean sea bass they have a tendency to flare up on the grill so watch them like a hawk as soon as they Brown you have to drop the heat otherwise everything will just go up in flames now let's talk about thickness 1 2 3 4 gregor writes fish come in so many different thicknesses different thickness along the same fillet etc I find that almost impossible to get cooking times right oh yes if only fish came in perfect boxer shapes how easy our cooking life would be well steaks sometimes do right but fillets never that's why you grab your knife and you cut them into sections of relatively even thickness this way I can take the thin belly of the heat earlier obviously don't get carried away with this or you'll chop up your fish into tiny little pieces if I am cooking as small and thin fillet like trout I leave it all in one piece but even its thickest part cooks so fast that the belly doesn't overcook much now that we figured out the fish types let's talk about the cooking methods sear in the skillet and then finish in the oven is the most versatile way to cook fish absolutely all thin fish can be cooked this way if you fish fillet is thicker than one inch in the thickest part it might not cook through by the time it is brown so in that case always have the oven preheated to about 400 degrees so that you can pop that skillet right in the oven and finish cooking that fish gently without drying out its surface when and out use a nonstick pan because most fish are very sticky only the foremost fish can be seared in a stainless steel skillet without jumping through semi-serious hoops yes there are ways to make your stainless steel skillet less sticky but they're somewhat annoying and not really foolproof if you really don't like using nonstick cookware try very well-seasoned cast iron that will also give you a pretty easy release if I am faced with a fish that I have never seen before the first thing I do to it is sear it in the skillet this will give me everything I need to know about this fish I'll see how much fat loses out so I'll be able to judge the fat content I'll see what texture the fish has after cooking so I'll know for next time if it's a good candidate for grilling or not fearing can be done on fish with and without the skin below this video a link to two seared dishes striped bass with the skin and swordfish without the skin and you can use those basic techniques on any fish pan frying is just like searing but with a coating my favorite coating is sliced almonds I can't tell you what a crowd-pleaser this method is it actually has a few advantages over searing because the fish does not touch the skillet directly you can use any skillet yes even stainless steel I personally don't mind nonstick cookware but I know many people do and so it's good to have that option not allowing fish to touch the skillet directly has another benefit you might have noticed that seared fish then still stink up your place a little bit unless you have a really good hood over your stove even perfectly fresh fish that smelt like nothing when it was raw will smell a little bit when you start to sear it but pan frying usually smells way less because the first doesn't touch the skillet directly the best candidates for pan frying a thin fillets with thin skin my two absolute favorites are trout and architecture architecture is kind of like a small salmon and you could also use a white mild fish without the skin like fluke broiling is great for fatty fish like salmon Chilean sea bass sable a fantastic I particularly like them glazed with something sweet and salty like soy sauce or miso paste the only thing to be aware of with grilling is that not all broilers work well generally guess once Brown way better than electric ones so try broiling in your oven and see how well it's working out for you you control the intensity of the heat by how close you are to the heating element start at 4 inches away from the flame and move close if you need to but if you find that you are consistently getting over cooked fish by the time it finally Brown seven on thick fillets then that might be time to give up on your broiler and try something else we already talked about grilling when we talked about fish textures so let's move on to sous-vide I was completely indifferent to lean white cod haddock hake all the stuff that we call scrub in New England boring until I discovered sous-vide it is really the best way to cook lean white fish in case you've never heard about sous-vide sous-vide is putting food into a bag and cooking it in a temperature controlled water bath and the tool you need for that is an immersion circulator lately they've been very affordable and have been taking the world of home cooking by storm all those other wet cooking methods poaching steaming baking parchment they produce wet fish sous-vide produces moist fish and there is a difference moist fish has moisture inside and wet fish has moisture outside whenever you're poaching a steaming by the time that fillet especially on thick fish has cooked through most of the moisture has oozed out and the outside of the fish is somewhat dry sure it's wet but dry so sous-vide solves that problem beautifully most of the time I don't even sear the fish after I cook them sous-vide but if you wanted to sear just drop the water bath temperature to about 1:21 Fahrenheit from the usual 131 Fahrenheit otherwise your fish will be falling apart before it even hits the skillet another really great way to finish a piece of beautiful white fish that you cooked sous-vide is to top it with some buttery bread crumbs and pop it under the broiler for just a minute just to let those breadcrumbs Brown if you watch my fish videos you might have noticed a very conspicuous absence of baking oh that's because I very rarely big fish baking it's kind of not here oh there if I won't bold and flavorful i sear pan fry grilled broiled if i won't clean and pristinely pure fish then i sous vide but there is one dish where i do bake the fish bluefish with crispy potatoes in that dish the potatoes provide that browning and crispness and bluefish provides the deep ocean flavor the fish tastes the potatoes with its juices as it cooks making the whole thing simply incredible this dish is really best made with bluefish but if you don't have access to bluefish then mackerel works really well too and if you want a milder option try halibut steaks though of course now that I have an immersion circulator it's so much tastier to sous-vide that halibut and just simply place it on top of potatoes rather than bake it now that we've talked about what to do with fish let's talk about what not to do baking fish in parchment or foil is so popular with home cooks that I thought I should warn you about how risky those methods are that stupid package makes it almost impossible for you to test your fish for doneness so you're really going by timing here in other words most of the time you will not be lucky and will be eating either overcooked or undercooked fish if you want to do something in a pouch at least try sous-vide there you can't go above the temperature that you sat on your immersion circulator regardless of the cooking method you choose what really makes or breaks your first dish is doneness remember that fish will continue to go up and temperature once they're off the heat for about five minutes so you need to take that into account and take the fish off the heat when it is still raw inside the only exception to that rule is the Soviet method for all the other methods pull apart the flakes and check if the fish is still translucent in the center and if you're dealing with a really dense fish like swordfish then you simply cut into it and check if about I'd say 25 percent of your fish still looks translucent why not use a thermometer because most fish are too thin and too uneven for you to stick a thermometer into them sideways and get an accurate reading sure you might use a thermometer and get some number but that number could be very misleading so it's almost best to trust your eyes than to trust a thermometer another problem with the thermometer is that different fish tastes the best at different temperatures there is no one temperature at which all search tastes good so unless you want to memorize temperatures for different fish it is again best to just dig in the only time I do use a thermometer is on monkfish monkfish is very dense and it doesn't flake at all it's it's texture is almost like chicken and monkfish is very thick and cylindrical so sticking a thermometer into monkfish works very comfortably at least into its thickest parts so there ya a thermometer works great but everything else I open it up and take a look a good time to start checking your fish is at 6 minutes per inch of thickness in the thickest part and from there on just tested every 1 to 2 minutes depending on how close you are to that desired texture it is always safer to undercook the nova cook if you check it too early you can always cook it more but if you check it too late there is no undo button with cooking oh and I forgot to mention the temperature for monkfish since I use a thermometer for that I take it off at 125 Fahrenheit and during that five minute rest it usually goes up to about 135 Fahrenheit if you want in-depth tutorials on all the fish cooking methods that I've mentioned video check out the links below and if you are ever in the Boston area maybe I'll see you in my fish class [Music]

Channel: Helen Rennie

Views: 71,655

Keywords: how to cook fish, how to cook different fish types, fish cooking methods, how to tell if fish is done, how to test fish for doneness, when is fish done, is translucent fish ok, how to sear fish, how to grill fish, how to pan fry fish, how to sous-vide fish, how to cook fish helen rennie, helen rennie fish, how to cook swordfish, how to cook salmon, how to cook striped bass, how to cook trout, how to cook cod, how to cook halibut, how to cook haddock, how to cook red snapper

Id: BSQhEjSalwk

Length: 17min 59sec (1079 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 14 2019