FIXING FISH
(Page 2 of 6)
Whether freshwater or saltwater, fish are either lean or
fat. Most are lean. Whatever oil they have is concentrated
in the liver (hence cod-liver oil). With little fat in the
flesh, lean fish are white or light-colored and mild in
flavor. Examples: perch, pike, bass, cod, flounder, haddock
and red snapper.
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In fat fish, oil is distributed throughout the flesh, which
is darker or pink, with a more pronounced flavor.
Whitefish, bluefish, mackerel, tuna and some salmon are
popular fat fish. (Don't be put off by that term. Even the
oiliest fish are only about 10% fat; ground beef weighs in
at 30%. And researchers are investigating the possibility
that fatty omega-3 acids deter heart disease.)
Once you know a fish's fat content, you can decide on an
appropriate cooking technique: baking, broiling, frying or
poaching (simmering in a liquid). With lean fish, the
critical problem is to keep it from drying out. Thus, it
lends itself to the wet-heat methods— poaching and
frying-which add moisture or fat. Lean fish also bakes
well, as long as it's covered with a sauce or basted with
an oilbased marinade. Broiling is chancy. The intense,
direct heat dries and toughens. If you must broil lean
fish, watch it like a fish hawk and slather it with fat.
Fat fish, on the other hand, thrives under dry heat; it
bakes and broils extremely well. It's less successful when
fried (super-greasy) or poached (except for salmon, the
classic poached fish). However it's cooked, fat fish can
taste oily unless it's prepared with an acid ingredient:
citrus, vinegar or wine.
The weather and the food distribution system being what
they are, it's hard to predict what will be caught and
delivered. So it's best to shop for a type of fish, rather
than for a particular species. While the fish in each
category are not identical, they are largely
interchangeable. If your recipe calls for orange
roughy—a lean New Zealand import—and there's
none to be had, substitute any lean variety that's fresh
and affordable.
Done or Devastated?
In preparing fish, the single most important factor is not
how you cook it but when you stop. Badly cooked usually
means over-cooked—a sweet, succulent fish made dry,
tasteless and tough. There are three ways to tell when it's
done:
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