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Chapter 15
Cooking Fish and Shellfish
Copyright © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Baking
Whole fish and fish portions may be cooked by baking in
an oven, though steaks, fillets, and smaller whole fish
are more often used for this method.
• Shellfish and stuffed clams or oysters are also popularly prepared
by baking.
• Baking is often combined with other cooking methods to either
start or finish cooking.
• Moist baking or braising:
• The baking pan should be just large enough to hold the fish.
• The bottom of the pan should be buttered or oiled.
• The fish may be baked uncovered or covered only lightly.
• The liquid should be strained, degreased, reduced, and finished.
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Broiling and Grilling
Broiled and grilled seafood items are increasingly
popular.
• Customers perceive them as
simpler and more healthful.
• By varying sauces, vegetable
accompaniments, and garnishes,
you can offer a great assortment
of grilled fish on the menu.
• A slightly crisped, browned, or grill-marked surface is
important to the appeal of grilled or broiled fish.
• Do not cover the item with sauce.
• Do not serve too much sauce.
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Sautéing and Pan-Frying
Sautéing
• A classic method for sautéing
fish is called à la Meunière.
• Other sautéed fish
preparations may call for
Standard Breading Procedure.
• Because most types of fin fish are so delicate,
especially if filleted, they do not lend themselves to a
great many sautéing variations.
• Firm shellfish, like shrimp and scallops, are easy to sauté, and
there is a greater variety of recipes for them.
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Deep-Frying
Deep-frying is perhaps the most popular method of
preparing fish in North America.
• Lean fish and shellfish such as
shrimp, clams, oysters, and scallops
are best for deep-frying.
• Fish to be fried is breaded or battered
to protect it from the frying fat and to
protect the frying fat from it.
• Breading or batter provides a crisp,
flavorful, and attractive coating.
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Poaching and Simmering
Poaching is cooking in a liquid at very low heat.
• Fillets and other small portions are sometimes cooked
in a small amount of liquid.
• This procedure is called shallow poaching, because the item is
only partially submerged in the liquid.
• Whole fish and thick steaks may be cooked completely
submerged in a seasoned liquid called court bouillon.
• This procedure is called the submersion method.
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Poaching and Simmering
Court bouillon means “short broth” in French.
• Ingredients
• Water containing seasonings
• Herbs
• Usually an acid
• Court bouillon is used for
cooking fish
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Poaching and Simmering
To make paupiettes, or
rolled fillets of sole, lay
the fillets on the work
surface skin side up.
Starting at the large
end, roll tightly. If you
roll the fillet skin side
out, it unrolls as it
cooks.
When shallow-poaching
fish, cover the fish with
a piece of buttered
parchment.
If the fillets are to be
poached flat or folded,
first make a series of
very shallow cuts in the
skin side as shown.
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Steaming and Mixed Cooking
Techniques
Étuver : Technique of simmering an item in enough
liquid to barely cover the item.
• In other cases, little liquid is added and the item cooks in the
steam trapped by the pot lid.
En papillote : French term meaning “in paper.” The fish
item, plus flavoring ingredients and sauce, is tightly
enclosed in a piece of parchment so steam cannot
escape.
• When the paper package is heated, the item steams in its own
moisture.
• All the juices, flavors, and aromas are held inside the paper,
which is not opened until it is placed before the customer.
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Steaming and Mixed Cooking
Techniques
Preparing Foods en Papillote
Cut out a heart-shaped piece of
parchment by folding a parchment
sheet in half and cutting half a heart
from the folded side. Oil or butter
the parchment and place on the
work surface, oiled side down.
Place the fish fillet or other item
plus any sauce, topping, or
seasoning on one side of the
heart.
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Steaming and Mixed Cooking
Techniques
Preparing Foods en Papillote
Fold over the other half of the
heart. Starting at the top of the
fold, make a small crimp in the
edges as shown.
Continue crimping around the
edge. Each crimp holds the
previous one in place.
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Steaming and Mixed Cooking
Techniques
Preparing Foods en Papillote
When you reach the bottom of the heart,
fold the point under to hold it in place.
The papillote is now ready for cooking.
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Seafood Served Raw
• With the popularity of Japanese sushi and sashimi, many more
people enjoy eating items made with raw fish.
• Many health officials advise against serving raw seafood, however,
due to the danger of contamination from polluted fishing waters.
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Seafood Served Raw
If you choose to serve raw seafood, observe the following
guidelines:
1. Use only the freshest fish.
2. Buy the fish from a reliable purveyor.
3. Use only saltwater seafood from clean waters. Do not use
freshwater fish.
• To destroy possible parasites in saltwater fish, freeze it, and then thaw
it before use.
4. Observe the strictest sanitation procedures.
5. Keep the fish cold. Handle it as little as possible.
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Seafood Served Raw
Fish Tartare is a mixture of chopped raw fish mixed with
various condiments and seasonings.
Fish Carpaccio is a dish consisting of very thin slices of
firm, meaty fish such as tuna.
• Served with various garnishes and usually with a piquant sauce
such as a vinaigrette.
Seviche or Ceviche
is a preparation of raw seafood
marinated in an acid mixture.
• The acid coagulates the protein so the texture of the raw fish
resembles that of cooked fish.
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Seafood Served Raw
Sushi
Sushi is seasoned Japanese short-grain rice garnished
with one or more foods, usually, but not always, raw fish.
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