Refrigerate Cod After Cooking

Question

Is it okay to refrigerate Cod (and other kinds of fish) once cooked and eat the next day?

If so, can you reheat it before eating?

Asked by Chris Diver

Answer

Yes, it's fine to refrigerate cooked fish. Many types of fish are excellent (better, even) served cold -- shrimp and salmon are good examples. If you can eat it cold, it's hard to see how reheating would pose any additional risk.

There are some other considerations, though. It's easy to overcook fish, which leaves it dry and less than tender, and that goes double if you're reheating. Use low heat (or low power in a microwave) and be careful not to cook too long. Some sauce will help keep the fish reheat, but avoid storing the fish in a strongly acidic sauce (like lemon juice) as acid will change the fish over time even in the fridge. And avoid reheating fishy things in the microwave at work if you value your relationship with your coworkers -- the smell often lingers.

Answered by Caleb

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How do you properly defrost frozen fish?

Question

I recently bought a package of frozen cod that contains about 6 pieces. How do you go about properly defrosting them? Thanks.

Asked by duchessofstokesay

Answer

There are two safe ways to defrost, one more rapid than the other.

First method is to defrost in the refrigerator. This keeps temperature below 40 degrees F, in the safe zone. This will, also, take a while.

Second method is to defrost in the sink under cold running water. The water doesn't have to run rapidly, but it should change regularly. This will defrost the fish more rapidly than in the air (water is a better conductor of heat than air) and will keep the fish in the danger zone for the shortest period of time. If you are not going to cook it immediately, then return to the refrigerator.

If you are deep frying, there are some techniques that will allow you to go direct from frozen to fried, but that is generally done in a professional kitchen where they have powerful fryers that can take the temperature hit and come back strong.

Answered by Doug Johnson-Cookloose

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How should I cook skate wings

Question

I was in the fish section at the local supermarket this morning. There was a pile of fish that looked really delicious. So I asked the attendant what it was. He told me it's skate wings. Having never had it before I asked him for a piece. It was really cheap. Cheaper even than the hake. When I asked him why he said it's that people don't know how to cook it, so they don't like it, so it does not sell well.

Being the first time I cook this fish, I really don't want to mess it up. What's the best way to cook it?

Asked by RichieACC

Answer

skate benefits from very, very fast cooking and perhaps a very light breading--flour or cornmeal only, not breadcrumbs. classic accompaniments are lemon, brown butter, and capers.

beyond that, I'd google for recipes. Delia Smith had a particularly lovely one in her Summer Collection book, released in the late 80's.

Answered by n/a

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How to cook sea bass fillet in foil in the oven from frozen

Question

I would like to cook a sea bass fillet from frozen and to cook it wrapped in foil, how should i do this? Because its frozen, how long should i have it in the oven for and at what temperature?

Asked by John

Answer

Simply make a tightly sealed parcel of the foil by doubling it and folding over the fish and sealing the edges. I'd include some knobs of butter and lemon slices, and some fresh ground pepper.

As for cooking time, that really depends on the thickness of the fillet. I would say around 20-25 minutes at 180°C/350°F as a guide, but you should make sure the fish is piping hot throughout and opaque white with no translucent bits.

Answered by ElendilTheTall

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Spanish Codfish with sous-vide

Question

I recently made a Spanish codfish. It's called Bacalao al pil pil. The trick is to render the gelatin from the fish at a low temperature, reserve the fish meat and then mount the gelatin with oil. The whole process is somewhat longer.

The question is that codfish has a thick part and a thin part. So over/under cooking is always a problem. That's where I thought of the sous-vide technique. At what temperature could the fish be perfectly cooked and at the same time release all the gelatin?

Asked by BaffledCook

Answer

Per this paper, you want an extraction time of 15-60 mins at 113F / 45C. This patent uses temperatures below 131F / 55C. Both of those temperatures may be too low to make the cod actually taste good / cooked. 140F is a fairly typical temperature for sous vide fish. While 113F has some interesting results, it may or may not work for your dish as the result comes out quite different than standard cooked fish. However, I don't think that using a higher heat will have a negative effect on the gelatin extraction, so I'd start with 140F and work down from there.

This process may cause other problems though. In addition to extracting the gelatin, any other juices from the fish will mix with your gelatin. In a pan, these may steam off, but with sous vide you're stuck with them. I think you're likely to end up with a mixture that's much more watery than if you used a pan. You may find that this needs to be boiled down a little bit in order to get the desired consistency of your emulsion.

As always with sous vide, you've also got potential safety issues. You'll never reach pasteurization at 113F. You should check Douglas Baldwin's A Practical Guide To Sous Vide for cooking times (which are highly dependent on width).

Answered by yossarian

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Reason(s) for not making stock with oily fish (salmon)?

Question

Making stock from oily fish is often advised against, but what is the big deal? Does it just taste really bad?

Asked by cptloop

Answer

Salmon or Tuna will make a very strong flavoured stock and will have lots of oil that coat your tongue. Not what you're looking for if you want a light brightly flavoured fish sauce.

In a traditional French kitchen you want generic stocks (fish/brown/chicken/veal) that are able to be used for a wide range of sauces/dishes so having a salmon stock around doesn't meet that criteria.

That said, I worked at a restaurant that made fish stock from salmon bones all the time as it was mainly used in a house specialty, a very robust West Coast spin on Bouillabaisse. Any true Frechman would have turned his back on us in disgust for doing what we did but damn it, it tasted great and the customers loved it! For any other fish sauces we used the traditional white fish bones.

FYI...Japanese dishes use Bonito flakes (tuna) liberally to make dashi(sp?) which is a fish flavoured broth for miso soup as well as other items.

So basically what I'm saying is if a fatty fish stock gets the job done for you and you're happy with it then go for it. Just remember that if you're trying to make a classic recipe then using a non-traditional ingredient will mess it up.

Answered by Chef Flambe

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What is the proper way to brine fish?

Question

My query is regarding fish in general and specifically types like salmon, tuna and trout.

1. How long should fish be brined for? Some recipes say 4 hours and others say 8-12 hours.

2. Should the saline solution be 6% as usual.

3. How do you know if it has bined properly? Do you expect it to be plump and juicy as with poultry or how exactly?

Thanks

To answer your question, my goal in brining is to simply get as much salt as possible into the cells of the fish. . I do not care about taste, flavour or anything else, I just want salt to penetate into all parts of the fish. As you know if you want salt in your meat brining is the best method and better then normal and slow cooking which do not absorb to the same extent and in the same way.

Asked by James Wilson

Answer

If you want to cure your fish (basically a brine without moisture) it is dependent on the thickness of the meat mostly. If it's as thin as 1/4", it will take approximately 1-2 hours. If it's more around 1" thick, it could need 3-8 hours.

If you use a dry-cure method you don't have to worry about having too much salt because once you're done, you just wipe it off.

If done incorrectly (ie. not enough time), you should notice a difference in the colour between the edge and the interior. Typically, the colour becomes more pale.

The main purpose of the salt is to dehydrate the meat, not necessarily drying. If you use a brine, it obviously won't become dry.

Answered by Brino

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Desperately Seeking Chicken Haddies

Question

A staple of my Gran's kitchen when I was a child, Chicken Haddies (unbelievably I found a graphic of the product she favoured, below) was boneless haddock meat wrapped in wax paper then canned (a process unique in my experience.)

She was raised in Southern Ontario but spent decades of her life in mining camps in Ontario, Québec, and Newfoundland. My question is, is anyone aware if Chicken Haddies are still sold anywhere? An internet search finds references to several canneries in Atlantic Canada but the companies have no internet presence.

Please help, Chicken Haddies made the best chowder EVER!

Answer

Apparently the chicken haddie plant had fire damage and we have not been able to buy it for over a year now in New Brunswick, Canada. I too grew up with it for making the best fish cakes. Anyway, the plant is up and running again as of January 2012 and I've been buying at Sobeys.

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At what temperature should monkfish be prepared?

Question

At what internal temperature should you aim for monkfish to be properly cooked? According to this recipe, it should be at 145F (63ºC). Does anybody know a temperature chart for fish in general?

FYI I just found this and this reference.

Answer

To be perfectly honest with you, in all my years of cooking in kitchens I never took the temp of the fish. It was always by feel and look. Yes, I know that the gov't has guidelines that say 145F for fish but really when it comes down to it, if you have an 8oz cut of salmon/cod/monk in the pan, sticking an instant read into the middle won't do you much good. (Caveat: If it was a salmon Wellington I would shoot for 130F as it's a fully enclosed package that you can't feel for doneness)

The thickness of the cut will make a huge difference in when you should pull it out as you get post-oven cooking during resting in which the heat continues to heat the core of the flesh up to a final cooked temperature. That's why most chefs will take the roast out at a rare measured temp when they are shooting for a med rare serving state.

If your question is what state should monk fish be served, IE med rare (like salmon) or rare ( like tuna) then I would say med-rare is your best bet. Over cooking is a bad thing for monk fish and it goes from a lovely moist state to dry nastiness really quick. A nice way to cook it that helps to give you a little move wiggle room when cooking it is to wrap it in Parma ham (prosciutto). The little extra wrapping tastes great but also gives you a little bit of buffer as you get close to that magical temperature of doneness.

Hope it helps.

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How long can fish be left out?

Question

I was defrosting fish and forgot about it. It has been left out for a long time. How long can fish actually be left out before it goes bad?

Answer

A quote from the below link;

"Do not thaw frozen seafood at room temperature. Thaw in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave oven. If thawing in the refrigerator, allow one to two hours per pound of seafood".

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/fsfcs100.pdf

&

Another quote from the link below;

"... If food is allowed to remain at room temperature for two hours or longer, bacteria can multiply and cause food poisoning. - Even a tiny amount of contaminated food can cause severe illness. If you have any doubt about the safety of the food, throw it out!"

http://www.calpoison.com/public/food.html

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Clean an entire fish before or after storing in a freezer?

Question

After buying an entire fish from the supermarket, I was wondering if it is better to clean an entire fish before or after putting it to a freezer for storage (not long, abound a few days)?

Or the solution depends on the kind of fish? Today I bought some butter fishes. Before, I have bought porgy, bluefish, mackerel, pomfrey, ...

Thanks and regards!

Answer

Yes the fish should be cleaned and prepared before being frozen. Reference: http://www.helpwithcooking.com/food-storage/freezing-fish.html

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How to cook cubed fish for a fish taco (tortilla)

Question

Today someone at work described eating a delicious halibut taco. I've never had one before but it sounds awesome, so I'm going to try to make one some time this week (but since I have a lot of salmon in stock, I'm going to make it with salmon instead of halibut). I'd rather not grind the fish - ground fish does not sound like something that's too interesting to eat. So, I was thinking I'll just cut the fish into cubes, and fry them up, then throw the cooked cubes into a tortilla, roll up with some sauce, and serve (to myself). If it turns out good it would be a great recipe to share with friends and family.

However this is not something I've done before. I know fish breaks apart quite easily when cut into small bits, so is it even possible to preserve "fish-cubes" in a frying pan or will all the little cubes break into a flaky mess? Or, maybe it would be better to cook the whole fish first and then dice it afterwards?

If anyone has any advice or suggestions on how to create awesome fish-cubes (or just any general advice about how to prepare a salmon for a fish taco) please let me know.

Answer

Don't cut it up before cooking, do it after cooking. This is a common issue with many Mexican style recipes

Coat the fish with your spice mix, and cook as desired. When done, cut into cubes/chunks or flake onto your tortilla

Usually thinner fillets work best for this style in regards to surface area exposed to spices etc

Do the same for beef tortilla, spice and cook a steak, then slice it up thin and add it to your tortilla

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How long in fridge for sushi steaks?

Question

I ordered some sushi grade steaks online. They came frozen, as they were shipped with dry ice to keep them nice and cold. Frozen, I cut them into pieces and put them back in the freezer, taking out one chunk at a time and thawing in the fridge.

Sushi grade steaks do not need to be cooked, since they are kept frozen at temperatures where parasites cannot survive so there is no concern of the meats contaminating anything.

Once thawed, how long do I have to keep them in the fridge until they pose a health risk?

Since this might depend on the type of fish, I will leave the question open to all fish types. However FYI I ordered yellow fin tuna (Ahi), yellowtail tuna (Hamachi), and salmon (Sake). Also Capelin roe (Masago), and salmon roe (Ikura).

Answer

I have always made sure that I only defrost enough to meet the needs of the moment for sushi. If you cut the blocks into 4 to 8 rolls worth, they should defrost under running water in just fifteen to twenty minutes, just about the time it takes me to do a batch of sushi rice. That said, fish once defrosted will start to lose flavor immediately but will remain edible for 2 days. Once it starts to smell, get rid of it immediately, and I would play it very safe on that "starts to smell" the faintest whiff should be enough to send it to the bin.

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How to counteract excessive saltiness in dried fish?

Question

My wife comes from a culture where preparation and eating of dried fish is very common (as long as one takes the proper measures to deal with the smell). She prepared for me recently a serving of dried mackerel, but it was sooooo salty that I could only bear to eat one or two bites. Can anyone recommend some sort of preparation method to counteract this excessive salty flavor?

Answer

The standard way to cook salt cod for dishes where you want to really remove the saltiness, such as brandade, is to soak it (for hours) in a couple of changes of water, and then simmer it in milk for half an hour to an hour. This might work with the mackerel. Not sure what you'd use it for after that, though.

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How to cook a fish to make its bone as soft as those in sardines?

Question

When eating fish, accidentally swallowing the bones is a nightmare for me.

Currently, eating sardine is the only solution due to its soft bone.

I am worried that my health may suffer in the future if I continuously eat sardines that might contain "not so friendly" chemical substances.

I want to learn how to cook fishes to make their bones as soft as those of sardines.

Is there anybody here who knows the secret of making soft bones without "artificial and dangerous" chemical substances?

Do I need a special cooking apparatus to make fish bones soft?

Answer

Sardines are canned, which means the high heat of a pressure canner. That is what softens the bones. If you are wanting softer bones for other kinds of fish, you can either cook them using a pressure cooker or can them. However, this will only work for smaller fish that have smaller bones.

If your main concern is that you will swallow a bone and choke, then buy your fish as fillets only. Most fish fillets have no bones at all. The pin bones that are in salmon fillets can be removed with needle nose pliers, and are so small that you couldn't choke on them if you tried.

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What kind of fish would you recommend on barbeque?

Question

On my seasoned barbeque, i usually cook pork ribs or chicken wings or other delicious kind of meats but i have never cooked fish and i would like to try. I'm searching for easy to cook and tasty fish to put on my barbeque.
What would you recommend?

Answer

Salmon is very good when it's grilled on a cedar plank. The smoke from the cedar flavors the meat while it's cooking and gives it a great flavor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4R90J5p_Yo

You can buy cedar planks at many cooking stores.

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Which part of blue fish is not edible?

Question

I bought a blue fish caught in Maryland. Can I eat the entire fish, or are there some parts of it which are not edible?

Answer

From Fishing Tips: How to Catch, Prepare, and Cook Bluefish:

When you clean the fish, remove the skin and any dark-colored flesh. This part of the fish is especially strong tasting and somewhat oily.
Check out these fish recipes to learn to cook bluefish.

Also see How Can You Cook Bluefish To Make It Taste Good for advices on improving the flavor (e.g. soak it in milk).

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Is it safe to eat raw fish?

Question

Raw chicken is generally considered not safe to eat. A lot of people eat sushi/sashimi though, and that's raw fish. So, how come that's safe (if it is)?

Answer

I discussed a similar subject in this question: What exactly is "Sushi Grade" fish?

Raw fish isn't safe to eat if it's just been sitting around. However, the raw fish used in sushi/sashimi has been frozen (typically flash-frozen) in order to kill any parasites, making it as safe as any other food.

Most distributors of sashimi also have their own methods and internal regulations to ensure food safety, but specifics are understandably hard to come by. Suffice it to say, it's far safer to eat properly-prepared nigiri or sashimi than it is to eat an undercooked hamburger.

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Some sauce that goes well with fish sticks?

Question

I have found that fish sticks and potatoes/pasta, which I like to eat because it's fast and easy to make, is kind of dry.

Does anyone have any good tips on some sauce that would go well with this kind of food?

Answer

For fish, I really like making the hollandaise sauce. You can make different versions of it, by spicing it a but different. Lemon and dill (or other herbal spices) is a good supplement for fish. Remember to use fresh spices and not the dried ones for a good result. You can often get a lo of basic green spices as plants in supermarkets.

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What is a good alternative to Sea Bass?

Question

I am cooking a recipe of Asian style sea bass. What would be a good, cheaper alternative to sea bass that is readily available in a UK supermarket?

Answer

Depending on exactly the recipe you are using it in, I'd either go for a meaty white fish such as Cod, haddock, or the cheaper fish like pollock.

You may also be able to get away with something like mackerel, which isn't as white and chunky but is much cheaper.

You should be able to get all of these in a UK supermarket.

You could also try a fishmonger (either in the Supermarket or independent) - ask them what you could use instead.

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