Tastyly prepared fried fish is a desirable product in the human diet, and even though many people do not consume it so often due to its high cost (some varieties are quite decent), nevertheless, almost everyone has seafood on their menu, but I think we definitely buy river products, or like me, we catch it ourselves.
They prepare fish both on ordinary days and for the holiday table, and if previously fish soup and various soups were mainly made from fish, today it is fried, boiled, stewed, baked in batter, grilled, deep-fried and over the fire and cooked with marinades.
There are a great many recipes for preparing this product, but I decided to talk about the simplest way to cook fish and tell you how to deliciously fry different varieties in a frying pan.
- Classic recipe - fried fish in a frying pan in flour
- Fish fried in a pan with cheese
- How to deliciously fry fish with garlic and herbs
- Fried pike with onions, deliciously cooked in pieces in a frying pan under a lid
- How to beautifully and tasty fry a small fish - capelin
- Mackerel fried in a pan with nuts
- Some useful tips on how to cook fried fish at home
Classic recipe - fried fish in a frying pan in flour
You need to take:
- Any fish, preferably ready-made fillets, but carcasses with bones are also possible (cod, pollock, pangasius, blue whiting, mackerel, salmon, hake, etc.) - 1 kg.
- Any flour (pre-sieve) – 2 heaped spoons.
- Salt and seasonings to taste.
- Any vegetable oil (needed for frying).
Method for preparing fried fish step by step
1. If you purchased the fish in carcasses and are going to fry it with bones, then perhaps you should simply wash the carcasses, gut them and cut them into approximately equal pieces. I recommend at this stage to get rid of the bones, it is best to fry the fillet, it is convenient to serve it with any side dish, both for adults and for children. Cut the fish fillet into approximately equal pieces, this is necessary so that each piece is evenly fried for approximately the same time on each side.
Be sure to remove black films from the fish; they give off bitterness during cooking and spoil the entire taste of the dish. If the product is frozen, be sure to defrost it first, otherwise when frying it will release water, stew instead of frying, and simply stick to the pan.
2. Salt the finished pieces, sprinkle with spices, mix thoroughly with your hands, distributing the seasonings among the pieces. Be careful not to damage the integrity of the fish slices. If desired, you can add herbs or chopped fresh dill at this stage.
3. Pour about 2 tablespoons of oil into a clean frying pan and set the appliance to heat up over high heat. Once the pan is hot, turn down the heat.
4. Roll each piece in flour on all sides and place it in a frying pan so that there is a small distance between the products, this will make it convenient to fry and turn the fish over.
5. Without covering with a lid, fry one side over medium heat, then, as soon as a beautiful crust has formed, turn the food over to the second side and continue frying.
If the fish begins to release juice into the pan, increase the heat, otherwise the product will turn out dry and may fall into pieces when turned over. The cooking time for standard pieces on one side over medium or high heat is approximately 2-4 minutes, here everything will mainly depend on the thickness of the pieces themselves.
6. Place the finished steaks on a paper towel to remove excess fat and then serve with a side dish or as a separate dish.
Before each subsequent batch of fish, the pan should be washed. If you have pieces for 3 frying pans, you will have to thoroughly wash the device three times, otherwise the products that will be fried second or third may, firstly, burn, and, secondly, become rancid, saturated with unpleasant odors and the taste of overcooked oil.
How to fry
There are a huge number of ways to cook fish: housewives have learned to fry it on the grill, deep-fry, in a slow cooker, in a frying pan. Cooking fried fish does not take much time. The secret of delicious mackerel, trout or pike lies in the right choice of product
Before you buy a fish, you should pay attention to the condition of the skin and head. The product should not have an unpleasant odor; even frozen fish should be taken with an even color and no foreign odor
The fried fish recipe is chosen taking into account personal preferences and the type of product.
As a rule, trout, salmon or salmon are prepared as steaks. If the pieces are cut unevenly, it is recommended to separate the meat from the bone and fry the fillet with flour or other breading
Before preparing fried pieces from a frozen product, it is important to inspect the structure of the fabric: loose fish, which was sold in an ice glaze, cannot be fried with breading. The secret to delicious pieces is the right frying pan: cast iron with low edges is ideal
You can fry fish in mayonnaise, batter, without or with flour. It is better to cook fillet in dough.
Fish fried in a pan with cheese
List of required products:
- Fillet of hake, tilapia or pollock, or any other favorite fish, but not fatty – 700-900 gr.
- Any hard cheese, Russian is perfect - 200 gr.
- Eggs – 3 pcs.
- Salt and pepper – 1-2 pinches each.
- Flour – 1.5-2 tablespoons.
- Oil for frying.
- Any spices you like according to your taste.
Cooking process:
Cut the fillet (take fresh, be sure to defrost frozen, squeeze it out of the water with your hands) into pieces that are not too small, add salt, pepper, and sprinkle with any spices you like.
In a separate small deep bowl, beat the eggs, adding a spoonful of cold water.
Grate the cheese using a fine grater, mix it with the egg, add seasonings (you don’t have to add them).
Heat the oil in a frying pan; there is no need to reduce the heat, it should be above medium.
Take each piece one by one, roll in flour, and then in the cheese-egg mixture, place in a frying pan.
When a golden, firm, beautiful cheese crust has formed, turn the fillet over and fry on the other side.
You can serve fish in cheese batter hot or cold; rice and potatoes are most suitable for this dish as a side dish.
Cooking secrets
What kind of fish do we usually consider tasty? Juicy, tender, with a pleasant aroma and melting in your mouth. At the same time, we want the fish to look appetizing. If you know a few secrets, then this is exactly what fish cooked in a frying pan will look like.
The main rule is not to skimp on quality. Even pollock and hake can be cooked deliciously, as long as they are not too frozen. The most important thing is not the type of fish, but its quality and degree of freshness. Remember that fresh fish can also have a “smell.” If the carcass is lethargic, the tail and head hang down, the eyes are cloudy, and there are dark spots on the scales, it is better not to purchase such a fish. When purchasing frozen fish, you need to make sure that its expiration date has not expired, that the color of its meat corresponds to that of fish of this family, that it is not yellow, and that the ice crust does not exceed a couple of millimeters. Many chefs believe that frozen fish, no matter how you cook it, turns out to be a bit dry. In fact, this only happens if it has thawed in water. When defrosting in the microwave, the fish becomes loose and falls into pieces, which is also not good. So there is only one way out: be patient and wait for the fish to thaw on the top shelf of the refrigerator. Mistakes made when cleaning, gutting and cutting fish can also be costly.
At best, the pieces will take on an unappetizing appearance; at worst, the fish flesh will become bitter due to the gallbladder being damaged due to negligence. For this reason, it is necessary to know how to properly process fish. When cooking in a frying pan without frying, the fish can only be stewed. It is best to stew fish not in water, but in a fatty sauce, giving preference to sour cream rather than mayonnaise
You can also stew fish in a frying pan in cream or milk - it will also turn out delicious. The less fat in the fish itself, the more fat there should be in the sauce. If the fish has too strong a specific odor, you can neutralize it with the help of strong-smelling herbs (rosemary, thyme, dill, parsley) and lemon. White and black pepper are suitable seasonings for fish. To make the fish more tender and juicy before cooking it in a frying pan, it doesn’t hurt to marinate it for at least 15-20 minutes. Then it will turn out really tasty.
You need to know these secrets no matter what recipe you use to cook fish in a frying pan. However, the choice of recipe is also important. We have collected proven recipes that allow you not to worry about the results.
How to deliciously fry fish with garlic and herbs
Ingredients:
- Any favorite fresh fish – a kilogram.
- Flour – 3 tablespoons.
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste.
- A bunch of any greenery (cilantro, dill, parsley, young onions are great).
- 4 eggs.
- Sunflower, spices, salt - everything to your taste.
Preparation:
Wash the fish, cut off the fins, gut it, clean it if there are scales, put it on a plate or napkin and let it dry.
Divide the carcass into portions (pieces). Try to keep the pieces of fish approximately the same in thickness.
Chop the greens with a knife, add bulk seasonings, salt and mix.
Grind or pass the garlic cloves through a garlic press and add to the greens.
Rub the fish pieces with the resulting mixture and leave in the refrigerator for an hour or two.
Beat the eggs in a bowl until foamy, add a little salt and pepper.
Take out the food without removing the herbs and spices, roll in flour, then dip in the egg, place in oil heated until sizzling in a frying pan.
Fry over high heat until crusty, turn over and repeat the process until a beautiful blush forms on this side.
Fried fish is served with any side dish or as a separate dish with your favorite sauces and bread. This delicacy can be eaten both hot and cold.
Cooking
Housewives often boil fish in water and end up with a completely tasteless dish. The result in terms of taste is much more interesting if you boil fish in broth, and the more aromatic the broth, the tastier the fish cooked in it.
Onions, carrots, white roots are the basic set for such a broth. If the fish has a specific smell, then you can add allspice and bay leaf. Trout and sturgeon can be cooked without adding spices and vegetables in clean water, while preserving the natural taste and aroma of these types of fish.
You need to cook the fish in a small amount of broth (let it be concentrated) so that it does not lose its shape. The optimal proportions are: 2 liters of liquid per 1 kg of fish.
To make boiled fish tasty, you need to pour hot liquid over it, and when it boils, reduce the heat and cook at 80-90 degrees until cooked (without boiling). Remember that long-term cooking of sea fish (boiling or stewing) completely kills the taste and structure, the fish turns into porridge, losing almost all the benefits.
Most of the vitamins and minerals go into water during cooking, so the broth can be used for sauces and cooking various dishes. For example, I make risotto with this broth and boil pasta in it. Even potatoes cooked in this broth will be much more aromatic and tastier.
Fried pike with onions, deliciously cooked in pieces in a frying pan under a lid
Compound:
- Pike – 2 medium-sized carcasses.
- Pepper and salt - to taste.
- 2 onions.
- Vegetable oil.
- 2 pinches of flour (no more needed).
How to make fried pike.
Gut the pike, wash it, cut it into pieces.
Salt and pepper all the pieces, add flour, mix.
Cut the onion into half rings or quarters and sauté until nicely golden brown.
Heat a frying pan with oil, place the pike, fry on both sides.
Place the onion on top of the finished fish, cover the dish with a lid for a couple of minutes and reduce the heat to low.
Open the lid, mix the ingredients, being careful not to damage the pike itself, cover again and simmer the food for another 2 minutes.
All is ready! You can serve fried pike on the table, sprinkling it on top with herbs and the onion with which it was stewed.
How to beautifully and tasty fry a small fish - capelin
Have to take:
- A kilogram of thawed capelin.
- 150 gr. corn flour.
- Salt.
Step-by-step preparation steps:
Wash the capelin, you can gut it and cut off the heads of the carcasses; if the product is too small, it is best to fry the capelin whole.
Sprinkle with salt and mix with your hands.
Add flour, mix.
Place each fish carefully at a short distance from each other in a hot frying pan and fry until done on both sides.
