How to Boil Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Fill a kettle with cold water and add a pinch of coarse sea salt.
Place the fish in the kettle and bring the water to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer.
Cover the kettle to prevent dirt from falling in, removing the lid occasionally to skim off any scum.
Cook until the fish is thoroughly done, checking that the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.
Gently lift the fish from the kettle and allow excess water to drain.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Fish
- Provides the flesh that turns opaque and flaky as it cooks gently in the water.
The step that matters
Maintaining a gentle simmer. A rolling boil toughens and breaks up the delicate flesh, so the heat should be lowered once the water boils to keep it at a gentle simmer.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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