The how-to of pan-fried fish

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There are a million ways to cook fish, and how you choose to do so depends on the kind of fish you’re going to prepare. Some fish such as tuna and salmon are firm and have a distinctive taste—which is why they work with sushi or sashimi. They require little in the way of sauces to give them flavor—a squeeze of lemon will do. Others like basa, or plaice are pretty tasteless in themselves and so lend themselves to a more elaborate approach where they are just a base for the sauce you put on them.

Tuna, of course, is best avoided because of the high levels of mercury in it. This is true of the fresh or canned fish. Light tuna—skipjack—is a bit better but on the whole I’d give it a miss. Salmon you can eat a lot of and it’s really good for you—as tuna would be if we hadn’t polluted the oceans.

I confess that for many years I just pan-fried fish in olive oil and left it at that. Mostly I overcooked it. That was before I met Alicia who is much less accepting of overcooked food. If you’re just cooking for yourself, you tend to go for the quick. I was never a take-out fancier—I felt I could ruin good food much more cheaply and quickly. But quick it had to be, as I was always in a rush.

In the early days of our relationship Alicia was on a really odd diet which seemed to consist of little except boiled chicken and goat’s cheese—not at the same time. She wasn’t terribly clear as to what this diet was supposed to do—she was already as thin as a rake. I recall us flying across the Atlantic from NY to London and her refusing anything to eat except the cheese that she brought with her. As the hours went by it became steadily more and more pungent. By the time we got to our hotel I insisted that we put it outside on the window ledge.

I was not terribly surprised to find it still there in the morning—not even the rats and mice would go near it. She had it for breakfast, and lunch. We scoured London for a restaurant which would serve boiled chicken at dinner time and eventually she gave up and bought some more cheese.

I gradually wooed her onto something approaching a sensible eating routine and she got me out of the very lazy cooking habits I had gotten into as a bachelor. We were good for each other. I rediscovered the wonder of cooking as a relaxing pastime—as it was when I was a teenager.

Anyway, as I was saying, there is a better way to pan-fry most fish than just throwing it in hot oil and hoping for the best. The trick is to cook the fish so that it is crispy on the outside but soft and moist on the inside.

My favorite fish in all the world is barramundi—it’s firm, has a distinct taste and is versatile. Of course, you have to be in Australia to savor it. Don’t bother with the frozen skin-off stuff—you might as well save some money and buy completely tasteless basa. That should be your rule in choosing fish anyway—avoid thawed or frozen fish.

However, you can cook even the most tasteless fish this way and at least it’ll be OK.

I have assumed for this recipe that you are preparing two thick fillets of skin-on barramundi (if you’re cooking sole, plaice or similar, fry for less time but the preparation is the same).

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‍Ingredients

• 1 tblsp of olive oil
• 2 fillets of fish (see above)
• 1 or 2 tblsp plain flour
• A small amount of salt, approx. ½ tsp per fillet
• Fresh ground pepper

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‍Directions:

1. On a plate grind some pepper over the fillets (about 3 twists per fillet). Then sprinkle a small amount of salt over it.
2. Cover the fillets with a thin layer of flour.
3. Turn the fillets over and repeat
4. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and when it’s close to smoking put the fillets in to fry (shake off excess flour first). Fry skin-side first.
5. Fry each side for 7 minutes (barramundi fillet) or 3 minutes for thinner fish such as sole or plaice. Cooking for a minute or two longer will generally not hurt the flavor (this is certainly true of barramundi).

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Done!

Now let’s make the lemon, wine and onion sauce.

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‍Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 1/2 cup diet margarine (olive oil or canola-based spread is best)
• 1/2 cup fat-free Greek yoghurt
• 2 tblsp lemon juice

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Directions:

1. In small saucepan, heat wine and onion. Bring to a boil and reduce over medium-high heat until only 2 tablespoons of liquid remain (about 10 minutes).
2. Reduce heat to low and stir in the margarine, a little at a time, until sauce is smooth and all the margarine is incorporated.
3. Stir in yoghurt and lemon juice. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 5 minutes.

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‍Serves: 4

‍Energy: 432 kJs (108 calories)