How to cook fish? Five tips for you!
Fish is nutritious and can be made into a delicious dish through various cooking methods like pan-frying, stir-frying, braising, and deep-frying! But making a tasty, tender, and beautifully presented fish is no easy feat! There are tricks to it! Let me share five tips with you all!
Use boiling water for steaming fish. When steaming fish, always bring the water in the pot to a boil before adding the fish. Never use cold water. This is because when fish is suddenly exposed to high heat, its outer tissue coagulates, locking in the internal juices. Before steaming, it's best to sprinkle some chicken fat or lard on the fish to make it more tender and smooth. You can also cover it with plastic wrap to prevent the fresh flavor from escaping or the taste from being diluted by the condensation.
Add ginger late to remove the fishy smell. Some people like to add ginger to the pot along with the fish, thinking this removes the fishy smell. In fact, adding ginger too early causes the fish to release proteins that hinder ginger's deodorizing effect. You can either cook the fish in the pot for a while until the proteins coagulate before adding ginger, or add a small amount of vinegar and cooking wine when stir-frying to remove the fishy smell, reduce greasiness, and enhance the aroma. If you still detect a fishy smell, adding minced garlic at the end works wonders, especially for fish that has been frozen for a long time.
Prevent fish from sticking to the pan when frying. You can add salt to the hot oil in the pan, or wipe the hot pan with a piece of ginger. Another method is to heat the pan to a high temperature before adding the fish. The high oil temperature will immediately harden the fish's surface, preventing it from sticking. Then, reduce the heat to cook the fish through.
Prevent the fish from falling apart when braising. Before making braised fish, first fry or deep-fry the fish thoroughly in a large amount of hot oil. When braising, the sauce should not be excessive; just enough to cover the fish is ideal. Avoid flipping the fish. During the cooking process, constantly ladle the sauce over the fish. This allows the fish to absorb the flavor while maintaining its original shape.
Add milk when cooking frozen fish. When cooking fish that has been in the freezer for a long time, you can add a little fresh milk to the broth to enhance its flavor. After taking the fish out of the freezer, it's best to let it thaw naturally. Alternatively, you can thaw it in a container with a little salt. The purpose is that the proteins in the frozen fish will coagulate slowly upon contact with salt, preventing the loss of liquid and nutrients.