Fish

Sep. 3rd, 2010 08:31 pm
brigid: drawing of two women, one whispering to the other (Default)
[personal profile] brigid posting in [community profile] boilingwater
I'm a pretty decent cook (and baker) but have no experience with fish other than "buy fish frozen, cook according to directions" or "open can of tuna, mix with mayo etc."

Do you have any helpful fish tips, advice, or instruction? Any favorite fish recipes, the simpler the better?

Date: 2010-09-04 01:49 am (UTC)
norabombay: (Default)
From: [personal profile] norabombay
I'm a big fan of shrimp. Which oddly, you should buy frozen - they will be fresher.

Defrost.

Toss in a vat of boiling water with spices, a lemon etc. With shell on, cook 4 minutes. Will be perfect.

Or toss in a pan with butter and/or oil. Cook until pink and the texture has changed- about the same time period.

They are easy enough to break into small portions, so you can try different approaches without spending a fortune.

For fish? I've had good luck just baking it.

Date: 2010-09-04 01:49 am (UTC)
zana16: The Beatles with text "All you need is love" (Default)
From: [personal profile] zana16
This is the only fish dish I know, and I kind of made it up so it's not really an exact science:

Chop an onion. Chop a fennel bulb into thin strips. Put in a baking pan with olive oil on the bottom. Lay a fillet or two of tilapia on top. Pour some lemon juice over the tilapia, then put herbs and/or spices on top along with some ground pepper. Bake at somewhere between 350-400 degrees for ten or fifteen minutes, until done.

I like it a lot, and 50% of the (two) people I've served it to have liked it. :)

Oh! And I know how to broil salmon. Turn on the broiler, rub olive oil and maybe soy sauce over the top of the salmon with some herbs (I'm sure there are better marinades, but I can't afford salmon often enough to know, yet), and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Very quick and easy!

Date: 2010-09-04 01:57 am (UTC)
ilyena_sylph: picture of Labyrinth!faerie with 'careful, i bite' as text (Default)
From: [personal profile] ilyena_sylph
Most of my fish recipes involve beer batter (one cup flour, one cup beer, one egg, one teaspoon of paprika & one of salt, an eighth to a fourth of a cup of cooking oil, mixed well), fresh fish fillets, and enough hot oil to fry them in... *grins wryly* Missouri country girl, here.

Or they're the kind of complicated that baking a whole king salmon is.

Wish I could help more.

Date: 2010-09-04 09:39 am (UTC)
amadi: A bouquet of dark purple roses (Default)
From: [personal profile] amadi
The tricks to deep frying:
  • Use the proper oil. Peanut oil is great for deep frying. Olive oil is not. Canola is so so. Corn is better, in terms of vegetable oils.
  • You must have a thermometer. As a home cook, until you're really really comfortable with doing it, a thermometer is your best friend and your primary safety tool, as well.
  • Heat your oil slowly.
  • Turn on the exhaust fan before you start frying.
  • Be extraordinarily careful getting batter/breading covered fingers near hot oil. If in doubt, use tongs or get yourself a frying basket at a good kitchen supply store, they are awesome.
  • Never get near hot oil with wet hands, or drip water/moisture off of your food into the hot oil.
  • Don't overcrowd your oil. If your batch is too big, your food will come out soggy, greasy and overcooked rather than hot, crispy and delicious.
  • When you're done. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave it. Come back in an hour and move it to the back of the stove. The next morning, deal with the oil in your preferred way.

And of course, every kitchen should have a fire extinguisher in it. The chances are that you'll never, ever need it, but if you do, there is no substitute. Never put water on a grease fire. Put the pot lid on it to try to smother the flames.
Edited Date: 2010-09-04 09:49 am (UTC)

Date: 2010-09-04 08:36 pm (UTC)
amadi: A bouquet of dark purple roses (Default)
From: [personal profile] amadi
Not having an exhaust fan is a problem. I discovered last week that I don't currently have a working one either! Must get that fixed.

Date: 2010-09-04 08:52 pm (UTC)
amadi: A bouquet of dark purple roses (Default)
From: [personal profile] amadi
When my friend moved into his grandmother's house (she fried something every meal) we ended up taking a tip from the people who clean up wildlife after an oil spill, and attacked everything in the kitchen with a heavy concentration of Dawn dish liquid in water. It was interesting getting everything rinsed, but it really broke down the crud.

Date: 2010-09-04 02:02 am (UTC)
ar: Tim, aka Robin, saying "let's bang" to Kon, aka Superboy. (comics - let's bang)
From: [personal profile] ar
Speak of the devil! A couple days ago, I found what looks like a really great blog on fish--it's written by someone who apparently teaches cooking classes and stuff, and it covers specific kinds of fish, how to buy, how to cook, everything. I haven't had a chance to use my newfound knowledge yet, because I currently don't have my own apartment, so I'll have to live vicariously through internets strangers. ^_- Enjoy!

Date: 2010-09-04 07:47 am (UTC)
rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)
From: [personal profile] rydra_wong
My ridiculously easy sort-of-poached salmon:

http://boilingwater.dreamwidth.org/8289.html

A lot of fish can be cooked nicely by wrapping it in tinfoil (like a little parcel) and baking it; the tinfoil keeps it moist.

Flattish fillets of fish can be pan-fried quickly in a little olive oil or butter.

How do you feel about raw fish? If you're okay with it and have a good source of very fresh fish, it can be a lovely lazy option.

I do a summer salad with raw salmon, mango, diced onion, a bit of vinegar, and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt.

Date: 2010-09-04 05:39 pm (UTC)
rydra_wong: Lee Miller photo showing two women wearing metal fire masks in England during WWII. (Default)
From: [personal profile] rydra_wong
I haven't tried it, but a quick Google seems to indicate that it's very do-able, e.g.:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/586923

Date: 2010-09-04 10:04 am (UTC)
zebee: (Default)
From: [personal profile] zebee
One I like involves marmalade....

Either
1/2 cup orange marmalade and a tablespoon of grated ginger (or a teaspoon of dried ginger)
or
1/2 cup ginger marmalade

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon vinegar
1kg (2lb or so) of white fish.

combine marmalade, ginger, mustard and vinegar. Put 'em in a small bowl and mix 'em into a paste.

spread some of this onto the fish, and grill (broil) 5 min or until the fish flakes off easily with a fork. Don't over sauce, you want to see lots of fish between sauce bits.

Serve with steamed greens (a min or so covered in the microwave is worth a try) and the rest of the sauce in a bowl to season the greens with to taste.

You might want some rice or other grains too.

(of course I have no idea how easy marmalade is to get where you are!)

Date: 2010-09-05 07:29 am (UTC)
zebee: (Default)
From: [personal profile] zebee
I just go and get a white flesh fish that comes in fillets. That's because my local shopping strip has 3 different fishmongers who all tend to sell fish that stares at you, so whatever they have that doesn't need to be scaled is what I buy.

I think the last time I did this I used Ling. The book I got it from says Turbot. I've used whiting. Works with most fish that don't have their own strong flavour.

Date: 2010-09-04 02:55 pm (UTC)
lassarina: (Default)
From: [personal profile] lassarina
Salmon! It's pretty awesome because if you get really good salmon it won't be horrifying if you don't quite cook it 100% (unless you are at higher risk for foodborne illness in which case IGNORE THAT.)

What you need:

--A broiler (and broiler pan)

1 lb salmon, cut into filets

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
pinch pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp rosemary (better if fresh! In which case you use more; double or triple, depending on how much you like it.)

Mix up all the stuff that's not salmon. Spread it generously on the salmon. (A pastry brush is awesome for this, and they sell kickass silicone ones now that are dead easy to clean.) Put the salmon 4 inches from the heat of your broiler and leave it there for 4-6 minutes per inch of thickness. Eat.

(Alternatively, put salmon on a double thickness of aluminum foil, put on marinade as above and add a little bit of butter, some sliced onion, and sliced tomato if you like it. Fold the foil up into a packet. Put it under the broiler for about the same amount of time as above. It gets all steamy and tasty.)

Date: 2010-09-04 05:41 pm (UTC)
lassarina: (Default)
From: [personal profile] lassarina
Ah, you're in Chicago too? :) I am reliably informed that the frozen fish you can get at Trader Joe's is both inexpensive and tasty; barring that, if you've a car or don't mind carting things about on public transportation, the specialty fish stores (I can think of one in Winnetka and one in Glenview, and I am sure they must exist in the city) are often good choices for any type of seafood.

Date: 2010-12-11 03:39 pm (UTC)
mercredigirl: Afternoon tea captioned 'yummy' with a pink and a blue speech bubble overhead. (speech bubbles (pink and blue))
From: [personal profile] mercredigirl
A general steamer solves all woes, I think. :P

Seriously, any kind of fish, my family we buy it frozen, let it thaw, and steam it (with butter and tomatoes, mostly).

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