A classic French restaurant staple is Cabillaud Poêlé, grilled cod. It is usually served as a pan seared filet with a garnishing of boiled potatoes, beans and an egg with a side of creamy aioli sauce.
My version replaces the creamy lactose sauce with a mushroom and soy cream sauce with a garnish of vinegar cured radishes on a bed of nori seaweed.
The key to this dish is how to properly cook the fish, something that can be applied to all pan fish cooking.
Pan Seared Fish Tips
- Salt + Pepper fish and rub with olive or coconut oil
- Get the pan searing hot, add coconut oil
- Place fish, skin down, and do not move it, let it sear. The majority of cooking will be down on this side. Once fish is cooked 3/4 of the way through, then turn fish over (temperature high) until lightly crisped.
- Add lime, lemon, or your marinade halfway through and towards end of cooking process to create sauce and in-pan marinade
- The final test to tell how the fish is done? Poke it- does it feel firm but with a little give? perfectly cooked. Too squishy? undercooked. Hard and stiff? Overcooked. It's about a certain feel that you learn over time. Still unsure? Still a knife in the side and just see if its cooked.