I noticed that fish is a delicious product, but there are much fewer fish recipes than recipes for meat or chicken dishes.
Undoubtedly, it plays a role, firstly - the price of the fish (which now bites). Secondly - lack of habit to fish dishes. Despite the fact that it would seem that there are always a lot of fish in Russia, especially river and pond fish (sea fish is a common food for those who are on the coast, and it has traditionally been supplied to other territories for many centuries only in winter); it does not occupy a significant place in the culinary culture.
Well, and the third reason - they do not like to cook fish with us, because... very few people know how. I'm not going to praise myself, I'm also not a master in handling delicate fish flesh. I'm just learning. Because fish is a much more tender and capricious product than meat. You need a special approach to it.
But I came up with several rules for myself, which I always follow and my wife always speaks with guests - the fish turns out gorgeous!
First, you cannot ignore the "three Ps"
Many people don't like the smell of fish. Lake (pond, cage) can have a smudge taste and aroma. Marine - a pronounced aroma of sea fish, which cannot be described in words.
And in both cases, the rule of "three Ps" works great - that is, the fish must be salted, acidified and pepper.
The only thing, but - for river and pond fish, we first use salt (sprinkle abundantly and put the fish in the refrigerator for thirty minutes), and then wash off the salt in water acidified with vinegar.
And for the sea, everything is easier - salt, sprinkle with lemon juice, pepper, and... you can frighten the fish with a frying pan!
Secondly, it is difficult to cook fish due to the very short time of its temperature processing.
I have already written more than once that fish (and meat), more often than not, "should only be afraid of fire." But if individual cuts of meat can be stewed, boiled, and turned into jellied meat, and even baked for hours (wrapped in foil, for example), then such tricks do not work with fish.
I almost looked - and she had already lost its juiciness. Or in general - fell apart into fibers ...
So, in order to correctly calculate the cooking time of a fish, you do not need to look at its weight, no. And the thickness!
If we fry, then the cooking time is a maximum of 5 minutes for each centimeter of fish thickness. If we cook, then again, we take 7-10 minutes per centimeter of thickness. And that's enough! Moreover, cooking should not go on strong heat, but just barely gurgle.
When baking, the temperature cannot be raised above 180-200 degrees, and the baking time for the most part fluctuates between 15 and 20 minutes. Only well, a sooooo big fish can spend 25 minutes in the oven. This applies to white fish. If the fish is red, then it is worth looking at whether it is fleshy or fat. If it is fat, then the baking time is the same as for white. If you are fleshy, then you can increase it a little. But only a little - maximum, five minutes to "finish".
And if the fish is not spoiled by prolonged cooking, it turns out the food of the gods!