The Best Way to Cook Seafood If You Don’t Like to Cook Seafood
I have only one fitness goal for 2022: to really pump up. This, of course, requires eating a lot of protein, and sea creatures are a great source of it. For most of my life, fish has been fried in cornmeal and deep fried. If I had to choose one fish to eat for the rest of my life, it would be catfish, cooked the way I just described, but it’s not exactly a convenient (or “healthy”) method of preparation, and getting a lot of convenient protein every day will be a key part of the journey.
Even if you’re not trying to make much progress this year, knowing how to cook fish and shellfish will be valuable if you enjoy eating these foods. But aside from frying, cooking seafood in general can be a little tricky for those who don’t have a lot of experience with it. Both are quite expensive and fairly easy to digest, which can cause some minor to moderate anxiety.
Discover olive oil cooking, an extremely gentle, gentle and luxurious way to cook all types of seafood. It’s a simple method: coat seafood with olive oil, add any flavors you desire, then cook at low heat – either on the stovetop or in the oven – and let the oil cook fish, shrimp, or whatever, slowly and gently. sea creature you like. This low temperature method allows you to cook fish with less worry as it takes whole minutes rather than seconds to go from “perfectly flaky” to “rubber and coarse”.
There are two ways to cook seafood in olive oil: in the oven or on the stove. I cook fish in the oven and shellfish on the stove; the latter cooks pretty quickly and I like being able to fish it out as soon as it’s done. For butter, take something in the middle; you will taste the oil, but you will also use it in large quantities. In any case, you can customize the flavors to your liking. The more flavors you add, the tastier the fish will be, so if you want your seafood to shine, keep it simple.
How to bake fish in the oven with olive oil
As with any other piece of fish I cook, I like to start with a quick sugar and salt treatment to give it a firm, nice texture and infuse the fillet with flavor (fillet is best when cooked in oil). It also makes the seasoning step simple: instead of counting how much salt you need to add to your poaching oil, you just brine, rinse, and you’re done.
Once the fish begins to flake, remove it from the oil with a slotted spatula (such as a fish spatula) and serve on a bed of rice, a large pile of fresh herbs, or pasta. Drizzle infused oil all over your food and garnish with fresh lemon juice and/or zest to balance the fat. (For added praise, boil a few small tomatoes in oil right next to the fish; they’re incredible when gently mashed with rice.) To cook fish poached in olive oil, you’ll need:
- Fish fillet
- Salt
- Sugar
- Olive oil
- Any flavor or aroma you like (I like thyme, sliced lemon, bay leaf, and tomatoes).
Preheat oven to 225℉. Make a dry brine by mixing two parts salt with one part sugar by volume. 1/4 cup salt and 2 tablespoons sugar should be enough for a pound of fish. Sprinkle the fillets well with the brine—they should look shiny—then leave them on a plate, untouched, at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Rinse the medicine off the fish with cold water, pat dry with paper towels, and place the fillets in an oven-proof baking dish that is large enough so they don’t overlap. (The larger your skillet, the more oil you’ll need.) Add flavorings and seasonings, as well as enough olive oil to cover the fish by 1/8 inch, and place the skillet in the oven.
Cook until the fish can be cut with a fork (about 135-140℉), about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the fillets. (I start checking mine in 15 minutes.) Be aware that the fish will continue to cook out of the oven if left in the oil, so remove it once you’re happy with the texture, or remove the pan entirely. just feel free to make them and use the residual heat to finish them off neatly. Serve immediately.
How to cook clams on the stove
Shrimps, scallops and the like cook a little faster than their fins so I like to keep them on the stove where I can see them. With the exception of the heat source, the process is very similar, except we skip the marinating step, as clams are naturally quite salty, but you can add a pinch of salt to the butter if you want it to be seasoned. (If you’re short on time, you can cook frozen clams straight out of the bag.) To make Olive Oil Boiled Clams, you’ll need:
- Your favorite shellfish (I think shrimp is the best option, and I heard lobster is excellent too. Scallops in olive oil are good too, but I miss the texture you get when fried.)
- Olive oil
- Flavorings and other flavorings (throw in a bunch of crushed garlic and chili for spicy shrimp!)
Add fresh or frozen clams in a single layer to as small a saucepan as possible. Add flavorings and seasonings, and enough olive oil to cover the seafood by 1/8 inch. Cook over low heat – there should be a few tiny bubbles, but don’t bring to a boil – until the clams begin to shrink and the center is opaque. (If necessary, use some test shrimp or scallops.) Cook bivalves until they open. Serve immediately.