How to Boil Fish
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fill a kettle with water and add a pinch of coarse sea salt.
Bring the water to a gentle boil.
Cook
Add the fish only when the water is boiling.
Cover the kettle to prevent dirt from falling in.
Remove the cover occasionally to skim off any scum.
Once the fish is cooked through, gently lift it from the kettle.
Serve
Allow the water to drain off before placing the fish on a clean napkin.
Serve the fish immediately after plating.
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
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently to stay moist and tender in simmering water.
The step that matters
Add the fish only when the water is boiling. Dropping fish into water that is already boiling sets the outside quickly, helping it hold its shape and keeping it from breaking apart. Cold-start cooking tends to let the flesh fall apart and absorb more water.
“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.
More boiled fish recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.