What You'll Need
- Skillet, seasoned cast-iron skillet, nonstick skillet
- Flexible spatula, fish spatula
Directions
Pan-frying is done in a shallow skillet with just enough fat to prevent the fish from sticking but not enough to fry it. The exterior is golden and has a pleasant crust, but is not crispy like batter-dipped or breaded fish. Look for oils with a high smoke point like canola, grapeseed, safflower, sunflower, coconut, avocado oil, ghee, or use equal parts olive oil and butter (the oil keeps the milk fats from burning).
1. Have your ingredients prepped and ready to cook before heating the pan; that includes any aromatics or liquids to create a pan sauce. A light dusting of seasoned flour keeps the fish from sticking to the pan, plus gives the fish a tender crust. Any residual flour from the coating also helps thicken a pan sauce.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of fat in the skillet over medium-high heat. If using equal parts butter and oil, allow the butter to melt and become foamy. Add the fish and cook, carefully turning once, until lightly browned all over. You may need to lower the heat to medium to cook the second side if your skillet is lightweight.
3. Carefully transfer the fish to plates and serve right away or cover loosely with foil if making a pan sauce.
4. For a pan sauce, add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet if dry along with a small amount of finely chopped aromatics like garlic, shallot, or onion. Cook until fragrant, then deglaze with ½ cup liquid, such as white wine, broth, acidulated water (lemon juice). Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half. Whisk in 1 tablespoon unsalted butter until creamy and melted. Season with salt and pepper and spoon over the fish. Garnish with fresh chopped herbs.
Grace Parisi
Culinary Director Grace Parisi is a cook, writer and cookbook author. Formerly the Senior Test Kitchen Editor at Food & Wine Magazine and Executive Food Director at TimeInc Books, her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Health, O Magazine, Epicurious, Fitness, Today, Serious Eats, Martha Stewart, and many more. She’s the author of more than 6 books, among them The Portlandia Cookbook and Get Saucy, which was nominated for a James Beard award for Best Single Subject Cookbook.
