Cod fillet, fried or stewed in a frying pan, is an excellent solution for dinner and lunch. Fish is valued not only for its excellent taste and beneficial properties, it is accessible because it is always available on store shelves and is not expensive. The dishes made from it are nourishing, look appetizing, and it is impossible to spoil them, even without culinary skills. We have already cooked whole cod and steaks in the oven and in a frying pan . Today I propose to celebrate your belly by frying or stewing fish fillets.
It’s rare that anyone is lucky enough to “catch” the freshest, unfrozen cod. As a rule, it is frozen in steaks or a whole carcass. Recently, cod fillet briquettes have appeared on the shelves. I recommend that if you see it, just make sure that it is commercially frozen, when the fish is cut up and packaged into briquettes directly at sea, directly at the catch site, in compliance with storage standards.
Cod fillet in a frying pan - a simple recipe
Keep the simplest recipe for frying fillets, no fuss, but this does not mean that it will not turn out delicious. The main task is that the fillet must retain its juiciness and not fall apart.
Take:
- Cod fillet – 1 kg.
- Flour - a handful.
- Sunflower oil – as needed.
- Salt, ground pepper - a pinch.
Recently, I have replaced regular table salt with Adyghe salt, with a ready-made bouquet of seasonings.
Step by step recipe:
Leave the cod carcass on the table or on the refrigerator shelf so that it thaws slowly and does not lose its taste and healthy qualities. Then cut it into fillets, rinse, and dry with a paper towel.
Divide into small portions.
Place in a bowl, add salt and pepper. If you take salt without additives, add any seasonings for fish at your discretion, maybe ready-made from a bag. Stir the pieces and leave to soak for a quarter of an hour.
Pour oil into the frying pan and heat it. Dip the marinated fish pieces into flour. Place in oil.
To keep the cod from falling apart when you turn it over, keep this life hack from me. After pouring oil into the frying pan, salt it over the entire surface of the frying pan and heat it together with the salt. The pieces will not stick to the bottom.
Fry on the underside over full heat for about 5 minutes. Frying time depends on the size of the pieces. Wait for a beautiful golden crust to appear on the bottom.
Turn the cod over, slightly reduce the heat to medium, and cover the pan with a lid. Continue frying for a couple of minutes. Then reduce to almost a minimum, cook for about 5 more minutes.
Culinary secrets
Experienced housewives know several secrets that allow them to prepare delicious dishes from cod, without overpaying or spending an unreasonable amount of time and effort on cooking.
- If you see that a gutted cod carcass is much cheaper than steaks or fillets, feel free to buy it. The fish is not bony and can be easily cut into fillets or steaks.
- Cod meat is white. If you see that the fish lying on the counter is gray or yellow, it makes sense to look for a fresher product.
- The presence of snow or water in a bag of fish are signs that it has been defrosted, possibly more than once. This will negatively affect the organoleptic qualities of dishes made from it. Moreover, such fish may be unsafe for health.
- You defrost the fish yourself in the refrigerator. We do not recommend that you try to speed up the process by heating the fish in the microwave or hot water. This will make it drier and tougher.
- Cod that has been frozen for a long time sometimes acquires a specific smell that some may find repulsive. To solve the problem, slightly acidify the water with lemon juice or vinegar, put it in fish, and leave for half an hour. Using lemon when preparing cod dishes also helps give it a more pleasant aroma.
- Vegetables that go well with cod include onions, carrots, and tomatoes. They are often supplemented with zucchini, green beans, green peas, and bell peppers. Other options are also possible.
- Cod is a low-fat fish; it is advisable to stew it with the addition of sour cream, cream, mayonnaise or other fatty foods. In addition, fats help the fat-soluble vitamins contained in cod to be better absorbed.
- If you fry some of the vegetables in oil before stewing the fish, the dish will be more tasty and aromatic, but its calorie content will increase.
- Often the recipe for stewed fish includes wine. You can replace it with citric acid diluted in water. The main thing here is not to overdo it with lemon.
Cod fillet fried in breading with crispy crust
Just frying fish in breadcrumbs is pretty boring.
I suggest adding some herbs and lemon. We take:
- Fish fillet – 6 pieces.
- Breadcrumbs - a glass.
- Butter – 3 large spoons (melted).
- Lemon zest, grated – 2 small spoons.
- Chopped parsley - 3 large spoons.
- Ground pepper, salt.
How to fry:
- Cut the fish carcass into fillets.
- Chop the parsley sprigs into crumbs. Grate the zest from the lemon.
- Mix the crackers in a bowl, add chopped herbs and lemon zest. Season with spices. Mix well.
- Add oil to the frying pan and heat it up. Roll the fish preparations in breading and fry.
- Fry until cooked on both sides until golden brown. The recipe is suitable for baking fillets in the oven . To do this, place the pieces on parchment paper placed on a baking sheet. Cook at 200 o C for 10-12 minutes.
Beneficial features
Cod is a fairly large fish. The length of the carcass can reach one and a half meters. But stores usually sell fish about 50 cm long. Cod has tasty white meat. And from the liver of fish they get the well-known and healthy fish oil
Calorie content of fresh cod (per 100 g) = 78 kcal. Of these, 17.8 g of protein, 0.7 g of fat, and no carbohydrates
The protein level of this fish is the same as in meat products. Moreover, the protein here is complete with a full set of amino acids necessary for the human body. And thanks to its low fat content and lack of carbohydrates, cod is an excellent dietary product. This fish is simply irreplaceable for those who suffer from excess weight and liver problems.
And cod also contains many different “benefits”:
- vitamins A, B1, B4, B6, B9, C, E, H, etc.;
- minerals (chrome, iodine, selenium, fluorine, sulfur, calcium, zinc and others);
- fatty acid.
The meat of this sea predator has a positive effect on the processes of blood formation, gastrointestinal tract, heart and brain activity. It’s not for nothing that doctors say that you need to eat more sea fish.
How to cook cod fillet in cream sauce
Sometimes, to make a tasty dish, you don’t need to be fancy about preparing complex recipes. Fillet in creamy sauce is a prime example of this. Everything is as simple as possible.
Compound:
- Cod fillet – 400 gr.
- Onion - head.
- Flour – 2 spoons.
- Cream, heavy - 300 ml.
- Butter – 20 gr.
- Sunflower oil - a couple of spoons.
- Salt, pepper, parsley.
Step by step recipe:
Chop the onion into medium-sized cubes.
Rinse the cod fillet and pat dry with a napkin. Divide into pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
Bread the pieces with flour.
Fry until lightly browned on one side first.
Then turn it over and fry the other side. Place the fried pieces on a plate.
Instead of fish, melt a piece of butter in an empty frying pan. Place onion cubes. Fry until they turn a caramel color.
Return the fish to the pan.
Fill with cream. Salt and pepper the dish. Reduce the fire power to the very minimum. Simmer the cod at a gentle simmer for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle the creamed cod with chopped parsley, then turn off the burner.
Valuable addition
Cod meat has a distinct, specific fishy aroma. This is what scares off many people. To get rid of this smell, sprinkle lemon juice on the fish. A similar effect can be achieved by soaking the fillet in a vinegar solution. To prepare it, use 2 tbsp. Take a liter of water for 9% vinegar. You can also remove the unpleasant aroma of fish by soaking the product in cucumber brine or kefir.
Another unpleasant surprise that may await you is that the cod falls apart during cooking. To ensure that you have an appetizing dish for dinner, and not fish porridge, prepare the product correctly. You need to gently squeeze the fish with your hands and dry it with a paper towel. Cook the cod over medium heat without covering the pan with a lid.
Also, the fish will come out juicier if, after frying, it is stewed with vegetables. Cod goes well with carrots, zucchini, and bell peppers.
Do you like to experiment? Fry the cod in green breading. This fish is prepared without flour. For breading, take a small bunch of parsley and dill, as well as a little vegetable oil. Chop the greens and mix with oil. Roll each piece of fish in this breading and fry. It will turn out amazing! Well, what can I say, you prepare this dish and taste it
