FISH
- Рыба
The main difference between fish from fresh water and those from salt water, as food, is that the salt-water fish are an important source of bromin and iodin in the diet, and are considered desirable because of the value of iodin in preventing goiter. Some of the most common salt-water fish are cod, haddock, halibut, smelt, mackerel, salmon, shad, herring, oysters, clams, scallops, lobsters, crabs, shrimps and prawns, and some terrapins. Fish as food may be divided into:
WHITE FISH
Fish that have less than two per cent fat, examples of which are smelt, flounder, yellow perch, pike, pickerel, sea bass, cod and haddock.
MEDIUM FAT FISH
Fish that have two to five per cent fat, examples of which are weakfish, brook trout, mullet, and white perch.
FAT OR OILY FISH
Fish that contain five per cent or more of fat, examples of which are salmon, shad, herring, lake trout, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, butterfish, and eels.
SHELLFISH
Mollusks (oysters, clams, scallops and mussels); crustaceans (lobsters, crabs, shrimps, prawns, crawfish or crayfish); reptiles (frogs, terrapins and turtles. The reptiles really belong to a lower order of animal than fish, but as they spend some time in the water they are discussed here).
Amount of Fish to Buy
If the fish bought is solid flesh, one-third of a pound should be allowed for each person. If fish is bought in the round (with bones, head, tail, etc.) at least one-half pound must be bought for each person.
Selecting and Caring for Fish
FRESH AND FROZEN FISH
Fresh fish, or fish that was frozen while fresh, has full or bulging bright eyes, bright red gills, firm and elastic flesh and fresh odor. Be sure that the flesh along the back-bone smells fresh; it spoils there first. Fresh fish sinks in fresh water. If it floats, it should not be used.
As soon as fish comes from the market, clean it and put it into the refrigerator or other cool place until it is needed.
Fish that is frozen immediately after it is caught, and is kept frozen until the time for cooking does not lose its flavor. It is preferable to clean and draw it without thawing, but if it is too hard to handle soak in cold water or allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight until just flexible. Skinning is sometimes easier than scaling. Then it should be cooked at once without further thawing. Quick frozen fish on the market today is cleaned and ready for use. Cook at once without thawing, allowing only slightly more than the usual time allotted to broiling or baking as the case may be.
Cleaning and Dressing Fish
Although fish may have been cleaned and dressed at the market, they are likely to need additional cleaning before they are cooked. If any scales have been left on a fish that is to be cooked with the skin on, remove them with a dull knife (a sharp one might cut the skin) . Draw the knife over the fish, from tail to head, slanting it toward the body of the fish at an angle of about 45. If the fish is to be split, remove the head and tail. Wash quickly under cold running water and wipe the fish thoroughly, inside as well as outside, with a wet cloth. Then wipe with a clean dry cloth and keep on a plate in a cold place until ready to use.
To Skin a Fish
Remove the fins, cut off a strip of skin along the backbone, and cut the skin around the gills. Pull the skin off with the hand. If the flesh is soft, work slowly and closely follow the skin with the knife, to avoid tearing the flesh.
To Bone and Fillet a Fish
Clean and skin the fish. Insert a sharp knife close to the backbone at the tail end, and cut the flesh from the bone, working toward the head and keeping the knife as close as possible to the bone. Small bones that adhere to the flesh or are embedded in it must be removed with the fingers.
Large fish, such as cod and halibut, are easily boned; in fact, they are usually purchased in slices. Fish with many bones, like shad, cannot be boned satisfactorily.
Flounders are often boned, to form fillets, and are served as "fillets of sole." A fillet is merely a piece of fish without skin and bones. Fillets look better on the serving platter if they are approximately the same size. Rolled fillets are called turbans. They are fastened with wooden toothpicks to keep them in shape during cooking, but the picks are removed before the fish is served.
Fried or Panned Fish
After cleaning, dry the fish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in fine bread-crumbs, flour or corn-meal, then in egg, and again in crumbs, flour or corn-meal, and fry in deep fat. (See Index for directions for deep-fat frying.) Small fish are cooked in this way, with or without head and tail; also fish steaks, fillets or turbans. The skin is usually removed. In some cases (for example, the perch) if the skin has not been removed by the fish dealer, it is very difficult to get it off. In this case, dip for a moment into boiling water and remove at once.
FRIED FISH
Small fish are fried whole; for example, smelts, small flounders, whitebait, small whitings, small herrings, small perch. Larger fish such as eels, halibut, cod, large flounder and sole are cut in four-inch lengths or made into fillets or turbans before frying.
Fried fish are usually served with Tartar sauce, anchovy sauce or with lemon.
PANNED FISH
Clean, wash and dry fish, rub in flour which has been seasoned with salt and pepper or dip in egg and crumbs and saute in a saucepan in a small amount of fat. Any fish that can be fried can be panned.
Planked Fish
Scale the fish. Split it down the back, clean, wash and wipe dry as usual. Prepare a plank of oak or hickory, about one and one-half inch thick, and put in the oven to heat. If using a gas stove, place it directly under the gas in the broiler, having the side which is to hold the fish nearest the flame.
Rub the fish all over with oil, salt and pepper. Lay it skin side down on the plank, and put the plank on the upper grate of the oven, or under the broiler of a gas stove. Cook about one-half hour, spreading melted fat over the fish while it is in the oven if there is a tendency to dryness. If the fish has roe, the roe may be broiled on the plank beside the fish, or the roe may be boiled, mixed with a little white sauce, well seasoned, and spread over the thinnest part of the fish, five minutes before it is finished, and covered with crumbs.
Have ready freshly mashed potato and form a border of this around the fish by pressing it through a pastry-bag. Set the plank in the oven until the potato has browned, then send to table garnished with lemon and parsley.
The size of the plank will depend on the size of the oven, but it must be at least three inches wider than the fish. White- fish and shad are best for planked fish. |
