8 essential tools for preparing the tastiest fish at home

Does preparing fish really fit into your cooking routine? For me, much less often than I’d like, because I love eating it but I rarely manage to make it taste as good as it does in a restaurant. Actually, let’s just say never. Still, we should all have these essential tools at home (if you like eating fish, that is), because having the right equipment is half the battle!

Every time I ruin another piece of white fish because I haven’t heated the pan properly or I’m too impatient and start prodding it too soon with a clunky spatula, I resolve once again: this has to change. And why do I always forget that en papillotte is a technique that can hardly go wrong?! (Plus, a lot less smell). So, here are eight tools and tips that make preparing fish a whole lot easier:

Plastic cutting board

Do keep an eye on whether your plastic cutting board needs replacing, but this is one of the most important items when it comes to preparation. You don’t want fishy smells in your wooden cutting board, so choose a plastic one that can go in the dishwasher after, for example, seasoning fish or rubbing it with a marinade on it.

Filleting knife

Especially useful if you want to slice sashimi or fish for sushi yourself, but also for removing the skin from fish fillets. Maybe you always buy ‘ready-to-cook’ pieces or ask your fishmonger to cut the fish for you, but if you’re ready to take things a step further, a flexible filleting knife is a great purchase (or gift).

Baking sheet with raised edges

A good aluminium baking sheet is an indispensable workhorse in our kitchen anyway. Roasting vegetables, making loaded nachos, baking crispy chickpeas – having a few of these sheets in different sizes is genuinely fantastic. And fish is incredibly easy to prepare on one too! A large side of salmon, for example, served on the sheet – it looks super fancy. Or a few salmon fillets on the sheet with tomatoes, (parboiled) potato wedges and broccoli florets. Oh, so delicious, and only one ‘pan’ to wash up! Win-win…

Baking paper

Another technique that requires minimal effort for maximum flavour and lightness, with an overall “I’m doing great” vibe: fish en papillote. It sounds fancy but is simply a parcel folded from baking paper containing a piece of fish and a few flavourings, such as lemon slices and a sprig of rosemary (and salt and pepper, of course), to which you can also easily add some sliced vegetables! Everything steams in its own juices, preserving the vitamins and aromas for a fresh, light meal.

Non-stick frying pan

You need to be very confident in your cast-iron skills if you like preparing fish in that kind of pan. I prefer using a non-stick pan, which is now also available in sustainable, non-toxic versions. I love my GreenPan pans (#nospon, just a fan), from which a fried fish fillet is easy to remove as long as you leave it alone for long enough and don’t try to turn it over before it naturally releases from the bottom. Also ideal if you want to fry fish skin-side down, and do try it with this tip to keep the fish skin from sticking to the pan!

Grill pan

If you love those grill marks on your fish but would rather not see half your fillet disappear into the barbecue coals, grill your fish in a pan instead. A fish basket works too, of course, but in my experience one of those often takes up valuable space while you only take it out of the cupboard twice a year. In a grill pan, at least, you can grill plenty of other things too (courgette slices! toasties!). And if you choose a flat one that sits somewhere between a pan and a griddle and doesn’t have a plastic or wooden handle, you can just as easily put it on the BBQ in summer.

Fish spatula

When it’s time to turn that fish in the pan, the best tool for the job is a fish spatula. They are very thin and flexible, with a ‘bend’ that allows you to carefully slide the edge underneath the fish before working the entire spatula underneath it and turning the fish over. Do be careful in that non-stick pan not to cause any scratches. And of course, you can also use a spatula like this to turn steaks and other things, so don’t worry that you’re wasting your money on a one-trick pony.

Steamer basket

We love steamer baskets. We can’t get enough dim sum around here, but you can also easily make an entire meal in one of those tiered towers! Reheat cooked rice in one basket, vegetables in another and, finally, for example, sea bass topped with chopped ginger and spring onion and a little soy sauce or tamari. Delicious!

Read also:

• Oh no! Almost no fish shop provides the right information about fish
• Why isn’t there any vegetarian fish in supermarkets yet?
• This is how your fish always turns out crispy

Source: Food and Wine