What is White Fish?

• Black Sea Bass

• Cod

• Haddock

• Hake

• Pollack

White fish are very lean because their fat is mostly concentrated in their liver; this particular bunch of white fish dwells near the ocean bottom along continental shelves and does very little swimming, so they require very little enzyme activity (the coagulation of enzymes in the spaces between muscles is what causes them to stick together, resisting flaking) and therefore easily fall into flakes under your fork after cooking. Their relatively lazy lives also give them a clean, mild flavor.

The lack of natural oils and fats makes it important to handle these fish with care; rather than give them a hard pan-sear over high heat on both sides, we often like to quickly sear them on one side to achieve color and then finish cooking them gently in the oven. Sometimes we coat them in nuts and bake them on a wire rack at a not-too-high temperature. We also steam, braise, and poach them; these moist environments cook the fish evenly and gently, increasing the perception of juiciness. We don’t grill these fish (they scorch and stick), and we don’t often roast or broil them (they can dry out).

Best Methods: Gentle Pan-Roasting, Baking, Steaming, Braising, Poaching

Not Recommended: Grilling, High-Heat Roasting, Broiling

• Halibut

• Mahi-Mahi

• Red Snapper

• Striped Bass

• Swordfish

Also white fish, this group is mostly lean, but their texture is meatier, breaking off in moist chunks under your fork rather than in flakes. With the exception of halibut, these fish swim a lot more than the flaky white fish, so their inter-muscular structure is stronger, holding the fish together. (And halibut is higher in slow-melting collagen.)

We love these fish for their substantial texture and treat them differently than flakier fish. If we’re pan-searing them, we flip them frequently, keeping them over a hot flame the whole time; quickly getting the fish up to temperature with this method of radiating heat prevents the fish’s dense flesh from turning mushy. While flaky white fish should be cooked to 135 degrees, we cook these meatier fish to 130 degrees and then let them rise in temperature during a rest to prevent moisture loss during high-heat cooking. They take well to the gentle cooking of braising or steaming (in a pan or en papillote), can stand up ably to being flipped on a hot grill, and, like most fish, can be poached with success.

Best Methods: Pan-Searing, Braising, Steaming, Poaching, Grilling

Watch That Temp: Cook firm fish to 130 degrees and allow temperature to rise during rest to avoid overcooking.

• Tilapia

• Catfish

• Flounder

• Sole

This category contains a mix of fresh- and saltwater fish, what brings them together is the shape and structure of their fillets. While an inch-thick fillet of fish is a nice plate centerpiece, thin fish have their own appeal—versatile, impressively flaky, always tender, easy to brown. Usually a fillet comprises one side of the fish’s body, but the belly portion of the fillet is thinner than the top portion, a disparity that leads to uneven cooking. Our solution: Use the seam running down the center of each fillet as a guide to cut the thin and thick portions apart and cook them separately.

The shape of these fish makes them good candidates for slipping into hot oil to deep-fry or sauté. Flip carefully when sautéing, as the delicate fish can flake apart in the pan. Work quickly and confidently and use two spatulas to flip the fish, one to do the action of turning and one to hold the fillet steady.

Discriminating Tastes: Two thin fish, catfish and tilapia, have an unnecessarily bad taste reputation that we want to debunk. Most catfish sold in the United States is farmed in the Mississippi Delta and has a clean, mild taste from its grain feeding. The off-tasting stuff? Wild imports from Asia, which are very hard to come by. Fillets should be white to off-white; avoid fish that is yellow. As for tilapia, there’s a resounding conception that it’s a second-rate, predominantly farm-raised fish with a muddy taste. But tilapia is now the fourth-most-consumed seafood in the United States (after shrimp, tuna, and salmon). Modern fresh-water farming practices produce meaty tilapia with a clean, mild flavor—sort of a cross between trout and flounder.

Best Methods: Deep Frying, Sauteing, Steaming

Methods to Avoid: Roasting, Grilling