I did not set out to experiment; it happened out of sheer laziness. I bought some nice, fresh, bone-in fish at the market and with my bag of scaled, cleaned fish I headed home not sure how I was going to cook them. Of course, a curry came to mind, but I decided against that and opted to fry the fish instead. However, by the time I had finished doing chores and cooking a few other dishes to consume in the upcoming week, I was tired. Too tired to dust the seasoned fish with flour and rest it few minutes before shallow frying. I decided to drizzle a little oil in a pan and “fry” the fish just so. The results convinced me that is now my new way to “fry” bone-in, skin-on fish.
While the technique may not be new and many people know about pan-searing, here in the Caribbean, when we fry fish, it is always breaded or dusted with some type of powdered/floured starch; shallow fried or deep fried. The breading/dusting acts as a way to protect the fish and create a crisp outer texture. Shallow frying involves at least 2 inches of oil in a frying pan and deep frying, well, that is self-explanatory. Therefore, when I got the results I did, with simply coating the bottom of a pan with oil, as if pan-searing, I knew I had to share it with you. Not only did the fish brown nicely as if fried in the traditional way, but the skin crust would make converts of all those who do not like or eat fish skin. The flesh of the fish was tender and not overcooked.
These days everyone is trying to eat healthier. People are looking for ways to enjoy many of their favourite foods in ways that do not compromise on taste and flavour but with less fat, sugar and salt. For those who genuinely suffer with celiac disease and thought they could never have fried fish again, here’s some good news for you – you can, and you do not have to bother to purchase expensive flour alternatives with which to dust or powder fish before frying. You can season-marinate the fish and cook it just as is!
There is no special type of equipment such as a frying pan made of a particular material that you need to have to ‘fry’ the fish this way. I have cooked fish this way on several occasions in a cast iron skillet, a non-stick pan and stainless-steel frying pan – all or any of which can be found in most kitchens. Here is the ‘trick’, if you can even call it that: you want to ensure that the pan with oil is hot, very hot on medium heat. Actually, smoking hot is just as good because by the time you add the various fish or pieces of fish to the frying pan, the temperature will drop. The high temperature at the beginning helps to sear the skin, creating the crust and cooking the fish easily.
The amount of oil to use in the pan is very little, just add enough oil to have more than just a film of oil in the pan, you should be able to swirl the oil in the pan to coat the bottom. There should not be a pool of oil in the pan. If necessary, add a drizzle of oil between each batch if you are cooking a large quantity of fish.
The other thing of note when cooking the fish this way is to only turn the fish when it is ready to be turned. And you will know this easily. When you can easily slip a spatula beneath the fish without any resistance, it is ready for turning; flip and cook, brown, the other side. Cooking times for the fish will depend on the size of the fish (whole) or the pieces in which they have been cut. Whole Bangamary and Butter Fish would work perfectly cooked this way, Trout too but you might have to cut it into large pieces depending on the size. Having said that, any type of fish that you usually fry can be cooked this way. Here in Barbados, I mostly cook Red Snapper and ‘Pot fish’ this way. ‘Pot fish’ is so called because of the method employed in catching them – in pots. In other parts of the region, they are called Parrot Fish because of the beautiful range of colours in which they come.
The first time I cooked fish this way and presented it to my tasters-friends, they could not believe that the fish was not at least shallow fried.
Give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
