Taking care of the Fish
The fillet with the skin has an advantage: the skin attains extra crispiness, and helps maintain the fish’s texture and juiciness. The skin should be cut into several fine incisions, which will help the fish stay straight and not fold while in contact with the pan. Between the grooves you can season with herbs. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper (also between the grooves)
The Pan
A heavy pan is important to maintain the temperature, even a non-stick coating can work and prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom. If there is no pan in the right size for all the pieces, fry in cycles or in two pans at the same time. A striped pan will attain the look of a grill.
Heat of the pan
High temperature of the pan plays an important role. Heat the pan for 2-3 minutes on a medium flame, add fat (oil), increase the flame and heat a little more before putting in the chunks. Do not fry a large number of chunks at a time because it lowers the temperature in the pan. A low heat will cause the fish skin to stick to the pan.
Fat
We will use a relatively generous amount of olive oil, Using butter will give the fish an extra flavor. In order for it to not burn, add a little olive oil with the butter. Distilled butter is the best way. It will both give a buttery taste and the burning temperature of the distilled butter is high. While frying the fish, add a whole clove of garlic with a herb that you like – rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme. It will create additional flavors and aromas to the fish
Flouring
Some people dip the fish skin in flour and shake well after. It gives the fish a very crispy coating, but the flour adds a “fried” taste, which can overpower the delicate taste of the fish.
Frying time
When the oil is hot place the fish fillet on the side of the skin. The reaction of the fish in most cases is to fold. We must make sure that the all of the fish skin is in contact with the pan to get maximum crispiness. To do this, press the fish fillet with a spoon or wide tongs, or press gently with your hands and pin the fish skin to the pan. Before turning the fish over, shake the pan to make sure the fish is not stuck. If it did stick to the pan, give it another chance to complete the stabilization. Turn it over only when the edges of the fish turn white and the skin is crispy. It is also possible not to turn the fish, but you need to cover the pan with a lid and cook for a few minutes, the fish will cook in the steam that is formed and the skin will become crispy.
The duration of frying depends on the thickness of the slice:
Thinly slice (up to 1.5 cm) fry for a maximum of 2 minutes on the skin side and 1 minute on the other side. Medium-thick slice (2-3 cm) fry for about 3 minutes on the skin side and 2 minutes on the other side. Thick slice fry for about 5 minutes on the skin side and another 4 minutes on the other side over a medium flame.
While roasting the skin, you can use a spoon to moisten the fish meat with the fat around it, which will shorten the frying time and give the addition of aromas and flavor from garlic and herbs. Most important: over-frying causes the fish to dry out, so be sure to take the fish out on time.
How to know when the fish is ready?
Press with your finger on the fish meat, if the texture is stable and does not seperate, remove from the heat and serve immediately. Note that the fish continues to cook a little longer even after removing it from the heat.
Serving
If a large quantity needs to be served in a short time, fry to crisp the fish only on the side of the skin, Arrange the fish in a pan with the skin facing up and a few minutes before serving, transfer the pan to the top third of the oven and bake for about 3-2 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 degrees on a top grill.
For conclusion
This is basically the technique for getting a crunchy fish skin You can combine the fish in any sauce and toppings you may choose. The video has an example of white fish and salmon, both made in the same method.
The sea bass was combined with potatoes that was cooked with the peel in water with a little salt to soften, I peeled and crushed roughly, seasoned the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, placed the seared fish fillet on top, and above all I poured a sauce I made of garlic and hot pepper sautéed in olive oil along with capers, raisins, parsley, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper The salmon is served really simply
I poured some olive oil on a plate, squeezed over tomatoes, some yogurt and coriander leaf. When the salmon was ready I squeezed a little lemon on the pan which gave the fish a delightful lemon flavor.
So please try this method and you will get a spectacular result, Just like in a restaurant 🙂
Good Luck!
