Ever gone to a restaurant, friend's house, or family member's house and had fish that tasted like fishy, skunky, mud? I have. All the fresh squeezed lemon in the world can't cover the offsetting taste of improperly prepared fish.
Fishy Fish... really?
Fish shouldn't taste fishy. I know that might sound like an oxymoron, but if you've ever had overly 'fishy' tasting fish it can sometimes be enough to induce the gag reflex. Not good.
You can avoid this by following these simple rules:
-Keep your fish cold and/or alive. Warm dead fish are no good.
-Clean your fish ASAP.
-Rinse your cleaned fillets thoroughly under very cold water, multiple times throughout cleaning is ideal. Rinse out any signs of red or blood from the fillet with a kitchen sprayer on full blast. As you are cleaning you want to keep your fillets in a safe place, away from any fish slime, the cleaning board, or anything other than freshly cleaned and rinsed morsels of meat. A clean plate or bowl is ideal.
-Do NOT soak your fillets in water as your clean them unless you want them to turn into prunes. The same thing that happens to your fingers in a hot-tub or swimming pool can happen to your fish fillets. It can leech out all the oils that the keep the fillets soft and delicious, turning them rough, shriveled, and just not quite as good as they could be. They won't dry out or be harmed if you just leave the cleaned and rinsed fillets on a plate while you finish.
-Zipper out the center line (aka mudline or bloodline) -- that reddish colored strip in the middle of the fillet. This is where contaminants and muddy/fishy flavors can reside. With a walleye fillet you can slit both sides of the tail-end of the fillet and literally just pull the strip of meat off of that centerline on both sides, leaving a strip of red/pinkish flesh to be thrown out.
-Cook your fish quickly over high heat. Fish cooks much much quicker than any other meat you are used to cooking, so it requires special treatment. Get yourself a temperature probe if cooking in oil. 375 degrees is what I like to use, and the fillets will cook in under a minute. If you cook your fish with lower heat, you will have to cook it longer to brown, and cooking longer means overcooked dry fish.
-If not cooking right away, freeze right away. Vacuum sealed is best, but a ziploc bag with fillets and water with as much water squeezed out as possible and no air bubbles is almost as good. Air is your enemy when freezing fish.
-Always double check for bones before cooking. If you did everything right, your fillets should be 100% boneless. No one wants to bite into bones, or worse yet, inadvertently try and swallow one.
Anything else that can or should be done? Post below!
Fishy Fish... really?
Fish shouldn't taste fishy. I know that might sound like an oxymoron, but if you've ever had overly 'fishy' tasting fish it can sometimes be enough to induce the gag reflex. Not good.
You can avoid this by following these simple rules:
-Keep your fish cold and/or alive. Warm dead fish are no good.
-Clean your fish ASAP.
-Rinse your cleaned fillets thoroughly under very cold water, multiple times throughout cleaning is ideal. Rinse out any signs of red or blood from the fillet with a kitchen sprayer on full blast. As you are cleaning you want to keep your fillets in a safe place, away from any fish slime, the cleaning board, or anything other than freshly cleaned and rinsed morsels of meat. A clean plate or bowl is ideal.
-Do NOT soak your fillets in water as your clean them unless you want them to turn into prunes. The same thing that happens to your fingers in a hot-tub or swimming pool can happen to your fish fillets. It can leech out all the oils that the keep the fillets soft and delicious, turning them rough, shriveled, and just not quite as good as they could be. They won't dry out or be harmed if you just leave the cleaned and rinsed fillets on a plate while you finish.
-Zipper out the center line (aka mudline or bloodline) -- that reddish colored strip in the middle of the fillet. This is where contaminants and muddy/fishy flavors can reside. With a walleye fillet you can slit both sides of the tail-end of the fillet and literally just pull the strip of meat off of that centerline on both sides, leaving a strip of red/pinkish flesh to be thrown out.
-Cook your fish quickly over high heat. Fish cooks much much quicker than any other meat you are used to cooking, so it requires special treatment. Get yourself a temperature probe if cooking in oil. 375 degrees is what I like to use, and the fillets will cook in under a minute. If you cook your fish with lower heat, you will have to cook it longer to brown, and cooking longer means overcooked dry fish.
-If not cooking right away, freeze right away. Vacuum sealed is best, but a ziploc bag with fillets and water with as much water squeezed out as possible and no air bubbles is almost as good. Air is your enemy when freezing fish.
-Always double check for bones before cooking. If you did everything right, your fillets should be 100% boneless. No one wants to bite into bones, or worse yet, inadvertently try and swallow one.
Anything else that can or should be done? Post below!
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