Cooking Methods for White Fish
There are as many methods of cooking seafood as there are varieties of white fish, but not every method is suited to every fish. From high heat searing to low and slow poaching, let’s walk through the benefits of each technique and the kinds of fish it’s best for.
Pan-Searing and Pan-Roasting
Hot flame, hot pan, sizzling fish—pan-searing cooks fish fast for minimal moisture loss and maximum browning. For fish cooked to higher temperatures, or those that don’t have lubricating fat, though, the method can dry out the fish before it cooks through. Our solution for flaky white fish is a dual method: pan-roasting. We first sear on one side for browning, then finish cooking gently in the oven.
And for thick, meaty white fish that need to be cooked through but whose muscle structure is too tight for heat to penetrate efficiently (like swordfish steaks), we flip the fish frequently when pan-searing. A hot skillet cooks food from the bottom up. When a protein is flipped, the seared side, which is then facing up, is also quite hot. Some of its heat dissipates into the air, and some of it cooks the protein from the top down. The more frequently a protein is flipped, the more it will cook from both the bottom up and the top down— evenly. Note that this method causes more carryover cooking. And at such a high temperature, the proteins can shrink and squeeze out juices, so we pull the seafood early and let it rest to rise to temperature.
Steaming
Steaming cooks fish with vapor. While we steam clams on the stove, we like to use the oven to evenly steam fish. We do this with a method known as cooking en papillote, or in packets. To do this you enclose the fish in a package (parchment or aluminum foil) and bake at a moderate temperature. The packets trap the moisture emitted from the fish and other ingredients, steaming the fish (and any vegetable or grain accompaniments) in its own moisture for a concentrated flavor.
And we steam four fillets of fish in foil at the same time for our Oven-Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger, allowing the sauced fish to rest in a baking dish within the foil.
Poaching
Poaching also involves cooking seafood gently in a moist environment, but here the fish comes in contact with liquid. Traditional poaching calls for fully submerging foods in the liquid, but we choose to only partially submerge fish fillets, often raising them from the bottom of the pan with lemon slices or vegetables for a sort of hybrid poaching-steaming method that prevents the flavor of the fish’s natural juices from washing away in the liquid.
A variation on traditional poaching is oil-poaching—yes, cooking fish in a pan of olive oil. Poaching in oil leads to remarkably moist, velvety results because oil has roughly half the thermal capacity of water, which means it requires half the amount of energy to reach the same temperature as an equal volume of water. This, in turn, means it has less energy to transfer to food and will cook it more slowly. And while you might expect that fish poached in fat would be greasy, it actually absorbs very little oil. Why? For the oil to penetrate the fish, moisture must exit first. But because oil and water repel each other, it’s very difficult for moisture inside the fish to readily enter the oil. Hence, more of the juices stay in the fish.
Braising
Braising—cooking an ingredient in a closed environment to break down its proteins and achieve ultratender results—might not be the first cooking technique that comes to mind for delicate fish, but the ocean’s the limit when it comes to braising fish and seafood. Braising simmers and steams anything from lean, meaty halibut fillets to shellfish to perfection. It’s gentle and forgiving, guaranteeing moist fish.
Frying
Fried seafood is undeniably delicious—a treat from fish and clam shacks along the coasts or the fish fries of the South. Frying cooks fish quickly so there’s little chance of it drying out, and it forms a crisp, golden-brown coating on the outside. Thin white fish like catfish and flounder are especially delicious when fried.
Baking
Lower the oven temperature for fish that needs a delicate touch—flaky white fish —and achieve instant classics by coating them with nuts or breadcrumbs. Meals can also become more complex when they enter the baking dish: add cherry tomatoes or delicate vegetables to the fish for a complete meal.
Grilling
Flipping fish on the grill is a summer pleasure. Delicate fish—fillets or whole—easily pick up char from the grill, so the flavor imparted is tremendous. Just be sure to start with thick, firm white fish for grilling (flaky or thin white fish tend to break apart on the grill).
Some folks fear grilling fish, and that’s because it’s notorious for sticking. We’ve developed a method for preparing the grill that ensures protein won’t stick. If, by chance, your fish skin still sticks, slide a metal spatula between the skin and the flesh and remove the fish to serve skinless.
Heat your grill thoroughly and clean the grates, then oil the grates not once, but twice, to make sure that they are well lubricated.
Cover the grill and heat to 500 degrees.
Uncover and wipe the grate twice more with oiled towels.
Broiling
The top-down cooking of broiling is great for recipes where you want to get color or crust on the surface. While it works well with fatty fish like bluefish, mackerel, or even salmon, we don't usually recommend its use with lean white fish.
Roasting
Cooking fish in the oven at a high temperature is the most hands-off and, therefore, one of the simplest ways of handling it. Fish is delicate, however, so it can also lead to dried-out fish if you don’t do it right. Roasting isn’t our preferred method for ultralean white fish.
