Steam cooking
78
Fish
Fresh
Prepare fresh fish in the usual way, i.e.
clean, gut and fillet.
Frozen food
Fish does not need to be fully defrosted
before cooking. Defrost so that the sur-
face is sufficiently thawed to take herbs
and seasoning. Depending on the thick-
ness of the fish, 2 - 5 minutes should be
enough.
Preparation
Add some lemon or lime juice to fish
before cooking. The citric acid helps the
flesh stay firm.
It is not necessary to season fish with
salt when cooking with steam as this
method retains the minerals which give
the fish its unique flavour.
Cooking containers
If using a perforated container, grease it
first.
Shelf level
When cooking fish in a perforated con-
tainer at the same time as cooking
other types of food in other containers,
place the container with the fish directly
above the universal tray to catch any li-
quid and so avoid any transfer of tastes
to other food.
Temperature
85 °C – 90 °C
For gently cooking delicate types of
fish, such as sole.
100 °C
For cooking firmer types of fish, e.g.
cod and salmon.
Also for cooking fish in sauce or stock.
Duration
The cooking duration depends on the
thickness and the texture of the fish,
and not on the weight. The thicker the
fish, the longer the cooking duration. A
3 cm thick piece of fish weighing 500 g
will take longer to cook than a 2 cm
thick piece of fish weighing 500 g.
The longer fish cooks, the firmer its
flesh will become. Use the cooking dur-
ations given in the chart. If you find that
the fish is not cooked sufficiently only
cook it for a few minutes more.
When cooking fish in sauce or stock,
we recommend that you increase the
cooking duration quoted by a few
minutes.
