How long does it take to cook red fish? How to cook fish
Fish can not only be stewed, fried, steamed or baked, but also boiled. Those who know how long to cook fish have the opportunity to prepare a dish that is unusual in texture, aroma and taste. The main thing is to strictly follow the recommended holding times, and not try to determine the degree of readiness of the product by eye. Most types of product are sufficient 25-30 minutes to reach the optimal state. But there are also extremes, so you shouldn’t be surprised by figures of 5 minutes or 2 hours.
It doesn’t matter whether you need to boil pink salmon or bream, you should always follow the basic rules for working with the component. Only in this case can you count on the fact that in the end everything will turn out tasty and healthy.
- It is better not to salt the workpiece and water until the product is ready. Otherwise, the meat will turn out a little dry.
- It is recommended to cook both river and sea fish in a pan without a lid, so you should not use a slow cooker or double boiler to prepare this product.
Tip: Before cooking fish the traditional way, you should consider cooking it in vegetable broth. With this approach, even ordinary bream can be turned into an exquisite delicacy. And if you use saffron in the process of preparing the broth, the finished dish will have an amazing color and subtle aroma.
- The water should not be allowed to boil or bubble strongly, as this can lead to deterioration in the texture of the meat and even destruction of pieces or the carcass.
- Small fish are usually cooked whole, while large ones are cut into pieces. If this is not done, the component will not be welded evenly.
- To save time and make the meat juicy, pieces of fish are placed in boiling water. You can’t do this with small carcasses; temperature changes can cause the skin to burst.
- To boil the product tasty, you need to take a minimum amount of water. An abundance of liquid can greatly deteriorate the quality of the component, especially if you need to boil red fish.
- If within a few minutes after the start of cooking the broth becomes cloudy, the product must be removed and the liquid drained. Re-place the component in fresh boiling water and continue processing.
It is necessary to take special care when boiling representatives of the sturgeon and catfish families. It is better to cut them into large pieces and use a minimum amount of seasonings and spices.
Duration of boiling fish depending on the type
Each type of fish, as in the case of meat, requires an individual approach. If bream and sturgeon are cooked for equal periods of time, one of the products, and perhaps both, will be hopelessly spoiled. It is better to follow the recommendations of experts on how to properly cook fish, and not do questionable experiments with it:
- Smelt. It should be cooked for no more than 5 minutes. By over-resting the component, there is a risk of getting very tough meat.
- Pollock, mackerel, capelin and catfish reach the desired state in 8-12 minutes.
- To boil pink salmon (and other red fish with a similar texture), trout or pike perch, you will have to spend up to a quarter of an hour.
- Cod, herring, sterlet and flounder are cooked until cooked within 15-20 minutes. Bream and freshwater pike are processed a little longer.
- Hake and salmon are boiled for at least 25-30 minutes. Carp, cut into small pieces, is cooked for the same amount. But a whole carp will cook for about 45 minutes.
- Sturgeon takes the longest to cook. Even cut into portioned pieces, it will be ready within 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the pieces.
To determine whether the product is ready, you need to try to separate its fins from the carcass. If they come off easily, the component has reached the desired state.
The nuances of boiling fish
Of course, when boiling bream, mackerel or some delicious type of fish, there are specific features and recommendations, but there are general nuances for preparing a boiled product:
- Products with a delicate, unexpressed taste are not recommended to be richly flavored with seasonings and spices. It is enough to put white roots (parsley, celery) into the broth and add salt to the finished dish.
- But bream, carp or silver carp should be seasoned with pepper, bay leaf, carrots and onions. The already rich taste of meat will become more spicy and pronounced.
- Fish that initially has an unpleasant odor can be saved with cucumber brine. Just add a little liquid to the broth during the cooking process.
- If for some reason the finished product does not need to be served yet, it can be left in the broth, however, no more than half an hour.
The broth remaining after cooking the products can be strained several times until transparent, frozen and later used in making sauces. Just before pouring it into molds, you should add a little salt to the liquid.
Boiled fish is an excellent dietary dish, tasty, but at the same time simple and quick to prepare. However, despite the general simplicity of the process of preparing boiled fish, each type of fish requires a special approach. In this article we want to tell you about how to cook fish, as well as tell you about some of the subtleties and pitfalls that can unexpectedly make themselves felt during the cooking process.
What kind of fish is boiled?
To begin with, I would like to note that not all fish are truly good when boiled. For example, it is recommended to fry crucian carp, smelt, bream, carp, navaga, carp and some other fish, since during normal boiling the broth acquires a bitter taste.
Sterlet, cod, hake, pollock, trout, mackerel, pink salmon, pike perch, burbot, halibut, silver carp, flounder, as well as salmon and sturgeon - all these fish are especially good when boiled, so let’s talk about how to cook the most common one on the table we want to look at the fish of the mentioned species in more detail.
How and how much to cook fish
So, sturgeon takes the longest to cook. Large pieces of this fish are boiled for half an hour to 2 hours in salted water, and it is advisable to scald the sturgeon with boiling water before cooking.
Another noble fish is salmon, it takes 25-30 minutes to cook if the carcass is whole, but to prepare salmon pieces or fillets, cooking for 15 minutes is enough.
Cod is cooked exclusively in portioned pieces in salted water for 15-20 minutes.
The first number on the list of what kind of fish is boiled in milk is pollock - a dietary and almost boneless white fish. Pollock is boiled in salted water for 5-10 minutes, or it can also be boiled for 20 minutes in milk diluted with water in a ratio of 1/1, in which case the fish will acquire a unique delicate taste.
Flounder, sterlet and trout are ready in 15 minutes of cooking, while mackerel and pink salmon require even less time - from 7 to 10 minutes.
And finally, how long to cook salmon fish: 15-20 minutes, this is more than enough.
And finally, I would like to give some universal tips on how to cook fish. Firstly, be careful when salting fish: raw fish should not be salted before cooking, it is better to add salt to the broth. Secondly, make sure there is enough water in the pan, but not too much. Optimal ratio: 2 liters of water per 1 kg of fish. Third, watch the heat: after boiling, the fish should be cooked at a low simmer, unless otherwise specified in the recipe. It is also preferable to put fish in warm water, but not in boiling water.
Perhaps that's all we wanted to tell you.
There are many options for cooking fish. It can be fried, stewed, steamed... Today we will talk about how to properly cook fish. For cooking, they use such types of fish as flounder, hake, trout, halibut, carp and many others.
Secrets of cooking fish
In order not to spoil the taste of the fish, salting it before cooking is not recommended.
When preparing an appetizer or main course, fill the fish with hot water, using 2 liters of water per kilogram of prepared fish. To ensure uniform cooking, large carcasses are cut into pieces, and small fish are boiled whole.
Be aware that too much water will deteriorate the taste of the fish. Rapid boiling during cooking is also highly undesirable. If possible, use as little cooking water as possible.
Boil sturgeon and catfish in larger pieces, cutting them into portions before serving. These types of fish have a special delicate taste, so try not to use a large amount of spices and seasonings. Preserve its natural taste.
If you are boiling small fish whole, do not put it in very hot water. The temperature difference may cause the skin to burst, and the finished dish will lose its attractiveness. This will also affect the transparency of the broth. Dip the fish, cut into portions, into hot water, and place small fish in boiling water.
How long to cook fish
Like any seafood, fish does not tolerate prolonged heat treatment. It becomes tough, loses its taste and attractive appearance.
The cooking time for fish depends on its type and the size of the pieces:
- portioned pieces of sturgeon are boiled for 1 to 2 hours;
- the carp is cooked for 45 minutes, and if you cut it into pieces - 25-30 minutes;
- hake - 25-35 minutes;
- boil the salmon for 25-30 minutes;
- freshwater predatory pike is cooked for 20-25 minutes;
- flounder, cod, sterlet and herring will be ready after 15-20 minutes of cooking;
- pike perch, pink salmon and trout cook very quickly - 10-15 minutes is enough;
- catfish and capelin are even faster - 10-12 minutes;
- pollock and mackerel - only 5-10 minutes;
- and the record holder for the fastest cooking time is smelt fish: 5 minutes is enough for it to be ready.
You can determine the readiness of the fish by its fins. If they come off easily, then the fish is ready.
How to cook fish in vegetable broth
To get delicious fish with a delicate taste, cook it in vegetable broth. First add large pieces of carrots and onions, as well as roots and spices to your taste, into the water. To give it a beautiful color, add saffron to the broth. Onion skins will also give the fish a nice color.
Do not allow the broth in which the fish is cooked to boil strongly. Do not cover the pan with a lid.
Seasonings for cooking fish
If you are cooking fish that has a delicate, unsaturated taste, then use a minimum of seasonings. It is best to use only salt and white roots. Cook fish that has a rich taste, such as carp, silver carp, with the addition of bay leaves, carrots, and onions. Add some pepper. The fish will be spicy and tasty. If the fish has an unpleasant odor, then cucumber pickle will help neutralize it. Add it to the broth when cooking and you will improve the taste of the dish.
Cooked fish can wait about 30 minutes before serving in the broth. But you shouldn't keep it there longer. If you want to save the fish until the next meal, then add a little broth to the container where it will be stored (maybe in the same pan in which it was cooked). It will remain juicy.
If you use broth to make sauces, add as little salt as possible. The broth will become transparent if it is passed through several layers of damp gauze several times. Whipped egg white will help make it lighter.
Steaming fish will make it even more tasty and healthy. A small amount of cucumber brine will improve the taste of the fish.
More often, fish is fried or baked, but boiled fish is not only tasty, but also retains more benefits.
The main thing is to prepare this dish correctly.
You can cook fish in milk, vegetable broth or a small amount of water.
How to cook fish - basic cooking principles
You can cook almost any fish, but it is better not to cook fish that is too small in this way. Boiled fish in one piece turns out to be especially tasty, as it turns out juicier and tastier.
Fillet or gutted fish are cut into portions at right angles. A transverse cut is made on the skin so that the pieces do not become deformed during the cooking process. Boil fillets and fish cut into pieces in a small amount of water. It is enough if the liquid only covers the fish.
Large fish are completely filled with cold, slightly salted water, so it will gradually warm up along with the liquid. If you are cooking smaller fish, pour hot water over it so that it cooks quickly.
Sea fish is boiled by adding bay leaves, herbs, vegetables, peppercorns and salt to the water. Onions and roots are peeled and cut into small pieces. The fish will turn out tastier and will not be so overcooked if you add lemon juice or a little vinegar to the spicy broth.
Noble varieties of fish are cooked with the addition of wine, lemon juice, fresh mushrooms, etc. During the cooking process, do not allow the broth to boil intensely. To determine the readiness of the fish, pierce it in the thickest part with a fork. It should fit freely into the meat. Do not remove boiled fish from the broth before serving, as it will dry out quickly.
Tomato or white sauce is prepared based on fish broth. Boiled fish can be served either hot or cold. Serve hot with a side dish, and cold with pickled vegetables or green salad.
You can also steam the fish. A slow cooker or steamer is ideal for this.
How long to cook fish
Fish does not require long-term heat treatment, otherwise it may become tough and lose its attractive appearance and taste.
How long to cook fish depends on the size and type:
Boil smelt for 5 minutes;
Sturgeon, cut into portions – an hour;
Mackerel and pollock – ten minutes;
Whole carp – 45 minutes, cut into pieces – half an hour;
Capelin and catfish – ten minutes;
Hake – 35 minutes;
Trout, pink salmon and pike perch – a quarter of an hour;
Salmon – half an hour;
Herring, sterlet, cod and flounder – 20 minutes;
Shuku – 25 minutes.
Now you know how long to cook the fish, and readiness can be determined by the fins. They should move freely from the carcass.
Recipe 1. How to cook fish
Ingredients
carrot;
bulb.
tilapia or flounder fillet;
drinking water;
ground black pepper;
vinegar or lemon;
Cooking method
1. Wash the fish fillet under the tap and place it in a saucepan. Fill with cold water until it completely covers the fish.
2. Add about a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Place the pan with the fish over medium heat. The water should not boil intensely.
3. Calculate the cooking time based on the weight of the fish. Five minutes for every half kilogram is enough. Remove the fish from the broth, cut into pieces and serve with a side dish of potatoes or rice.
Recipe 2. How to steam fish with green onions
Ingredients
fish fillet – 700 g;
soy sauce – 30 ml;
green onions – 20 g;
vegetable oil – 30 ml;
ginger root – 2 cm.
Cooking method
1. Wash the fish fillet under running water, dry it with napkins and place it in a container for steaming.
2. Cut some of the green onions into feathers, three centimeters long. Peel half the ginger root and cut into thin slices. Place onion and ginger on top of fish fillet.
3. Place the container with the fish in a double boiler and cook until done.
4. Chop the remaining green onions into rings. Grind the second half of ginger root on a fine grater. Lightly fry the onion and ginger, pour soy sauce over everything and simmer for a couple more minutes.
5. Place the finished fish on a dish, add salt and pour over soy-ginger sauce. Serve with fresh vegetable salad and side dish.
Recipe 2. Pollock, steamed in a slow cooker
Ingredients
two pollock carcasses;
fresh parsley;
kitchen salt;
dill umbrellas;
seasonings for fish.
Cooking method
1. Thaw pollock completely on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. We clean and trim the fins and tails.
2. Cut the pollock carcasses into small pieces. Place the fish in a deep bowl, season with spices and salt. Stir and leave for a while so that the fish is saturated with the aromas of the spices.
3. Pour water into the multicooker container. Place sprigs of fresh parsley and dill umbrellas at the bottom of the container for steaming. Place pieces of pollock on the greens.
4. Place the container on top of the container. We start the “steaming” program for 25 minutes. We lower the lid. We move the valve to the “closed” position. Place the finished fish on a plate and serve with mashed potatoes or boiled rice.
Recipe 3. Fish boiled in milk with onion sauce
Ingredients
half a kilogram of fish fillet;
flour – 30 g;
milk – 750 ml;
butter 60 g;
onions - four pcs.
Cooking method
1. Wash the fish fillets under the tap and dry with napkins. Place in a deep saucepan and fill with boiled milk. Boil the fish until done.
2. Peel the onions, place the whole heads on a baking sheet and bake in the oven. Grind the prepared onion through a sieve. Add butter and fried flour to the onion puree. Stir and pour in a little boiling water. Place on the fire and cook until the sauce thickens. Season it with sugar, lemon juice and salt.
3. Remove the fish from the milk, transfer it to a dish and pour onion sauce over it. Serve with boiled potatoes.
Recipe 4. Stuffed mackerel, boiled in a bag
Ingredients
three mackerel;
spices for fish;
large carrots;
bulb;
gelatin – 10 g;
processed cheese;
two boiled eggs.
Cooking method
1. Wash the mackerel and dry it with napkins. Cut off the tails, fins and heads.
2. Cut the belly and remove the entrails. We make an incision along the back, remove the spine and ribs. We check the fillet for the presence of small bones; if necessary, remove them with tweezers.
3. Peel the carrots, wash them and chop them coarsely. Grate processed cheese and peeled boiled eggs into a bowl with carrots.
4. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Add to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Salt and mix well.
5. Pour gelatin into the mixture of vegetables, eggs and cheese. Mix again.
6. Cut off a piece of foil. Place the prepared mackerel fillet on a board, skin side down. Salt and sprinkle with gelatin. Spread a third of the filling and roll tightly. We stuff the rest of the carcasses in the same way.
7. Place two carcasses on foil. Place the third fish on top. Press down and sprinkle with gelatin again. Wrap the stuffed mackerel tightly in foil in the form of a roll. We wrap the edges. Place the roll in a plastic bag and tie it.
8. Boil water in a saucepan. Place the roll in the bag in boiling water and cook for forty minutes. Remove, cool, transfer to a deep bowl and leave the fish under pressure in the refrigerator for three hours.
9. Remove the bag, unwrap the foil and cut the stuffed mackerel into slices. Serve with fresh vegetable salad.
It is better to salt the fish at the end of cooking.
Take so much water that it barely covers the fish. Large amounts of water worsen the taste of fish.
Do not allow it to boil violently!
Use spices sparingly so that they do not overpower the flavor of the fish.
If you are preparing a broth-based sauce, strain it several times through cheesecloth.
Every person's diet should include fish. This is a dietary and healthy product, without which our body is deprived of a source of many microelements. There are many ways to cook fish and seafood, but cooking is the most optimal method (the loss of nutrients in this case is minimal).
How long to cook fish? How to cook it correctly? What nuances and difficulties may arise?
Before you cook pike or any other species, you need to carefully prepare the carcass. Remove scales, remove gills and gut (remove entrails). Be sure to rinse under running cool water. If you don’t have time to prepare, buy a gutted carcass or fillet.
Important to remember! You can cook small fish whole. If the carcass is large, then do not forget to divide it into pieces (otherwise it will not cook through).
The fish should be placed in hot water (but not boiling). You can prepare this dish by adding bay leaves, chopped onions, black pepper, and parsley.
What to consider?
Dishes with boiled fish have excellent taste when prepared correctly. Remember that long cooking can make the meat tough and tasteless. There are several recommendations that will help you cook fish meat in the best way:
- for fish soup, the amount of water in the pan should be minimal;
- cook only on low heat;
- if the water boils, reduce the heat;
- if you like salt and spices, it is better to add them to the water before the fish gets there.
Advice! Be careful when cooking and make sure the water does not boil.
How to determine the readiness of meat? If you cook the whole carcass, you can check the level of cooking by piercing it with a fork. When cutting into pieces, the first sign of readiness will be the separation of the meat from the bones.
Cook until done
Different types differ in weight and volume. For this reason, the cooking time will vary. To avoid confusion about how long to cook fish, keep the following instructions for yourself.
- Within 10 minutes, capelin, catfish, mackerel and pollock will be cooked. These representatives of the aquatic world are small in size, so they cook quickly.
- How long to cook trout? 15 minutes is enough for this first-class look to be ready. It will take the same amount of time to cook pink salmon.
- Speaking about how long to cook salmon, we should also mention chum salmon, which also belongs to the salmon family, but takes a little longer to cook: about a quarter of an hour. The same amount of cooking time will be required for fish such as salmon and hake. Boiled hake is known as a dietary dish.
- How long to cook pike perch? The total time depends on the chosen technique and the size of the pieces. Pike perch can be cooked on the stove (cooking time will take 15-20 minutes), in a slow cooker or in a double boiler (cooking time will be longer).
You need to cook red fish (a delicacy variety) in a 2:1 ratio (2 liters of water per 1 kg). Vegetable broth will help highlight the subtle taste. Onions, carrots, roots and saffron will add flavor and shade. Do not simmer the red fish in the pan; serve immediately.
Good to know! Many gourmets cook steamed fish and seafood. This method allows you to preserve even more useful properties. To cook fish using steam, you will have to wait 5-10 minutes longer than with regular cooking.
More about other types
How long to cook catfish? The peculiarity of the fish is the pronounced smell of the sea. To eliminate this aroma, you need to cook this meat with spices or in cucumber brine (300 ml per 1 liter of water). You can cook a whole fish in 10 minutes, and pieces in 6-8.
How long to cook sterlet? It cooks quickly, and when cooked correctly, the meat becomes juicy and flavorful. The broth is ideal for soup or fish soup. Cook with the lid closed for no more than 20 minutes.
How long to cook flounder? Cook fresh (if there is a foreign smell, it is better to refuse cooking). It is not necessary to scrape the scales; you can remove the skin. If you add drops of vegetable oil to the water, the pieces will remain whole.
Features of seafood preparation
How and for how long to cook seafood? This product does not need to be defrosted: immediately immerse in warm water and cook over low heat.
Cooking time:
- squid – 2 min;
- shrimp – 5 min;
- crabs - a quarter of an hour.
Cook assorted seafood (cocktail) for no more than 15 minutes. Seafood is an ideal option for a light snack.
Cook fish correctly and enjoy delicious dietary dishes that will bring many benefits to the body.
