Pan Fried Fish
Servings 2 people
Ingredients
- 2 fish fillets or fish steaks
Instructions
- Preheat a large frying pan or skillet on a medium-high heat.
- Rub fish with a little oil. Season.
- Pop fish into the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side.
- Turn fish when well browned and cook on the second side for another 2-4 minutes or until cooked through.
- Divide fish between 2 plates.
Variations
different meat – chicken breasts, 1 per person will work (bash them until flattened and about 1/2in thick before cooking). Also good with pork chops. Lamb fillet or back straps will also be great.
vegetarian – replace fish with sliced halloumi – just cook until golden on both sides. OR try fried eggs.
vegan – replace fish with eggplant ‘steaks’. Slice 1 large eggplant crosswise and cook in oil until well browned on both sides and super tender. Will take about 5 minutes a side.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
fish fillets or fish steaks – freeze.
Prepare Ahead
You can but I think fish is best when hot from the pan. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to a week and can be frozen.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Last time I tried cooking this (my first time ever pan frying fish), the oil was spattering and popping everywhere and there was a ton of smoke being produced (my smoke alarm went off!) The fish turned out fine (they were salmon fillets, so they were of kind of uneven thickness–is that why this happened?) but it was such a mess in the kitchen that I’m hesitant to try it again. Did I overdo the “very high heat” directions? Or is a curvy salmon fillet just not a good one to pan fry?
GReat questions Rebecca…
I pan fry salmon all the time.
The biggest problem is usually if your pan is larger than the fish there’s all this extra surface area where the oil goes and starts to spatter and smoke.
So next time, if you can try using a smaller pan so the fish just fits snugly.
With salmon because it’s so oily anyway you might not want to add any extra oil.
And another thing that will help is cooking skin side down first so the salmon doesn’t ‘curl up’ as much.. which keeps more fish in contact with the pan and less smoke being generated.
And finally your comment on ‘very high heat’… I just checked the recipe and I originally said high heat but thinking about it, I’m more likely to use a more gentle heat for fish so have changed to medium-high.. this will make a big difference too.
Let me know how you get on next time!
Jx