Anyone Good at Cooking Cod?

[Palanan]

A few nights ago I tried cooking some cod and it was a tough, rubbery disaster. I’m not sure if I overcooked or undercooked, but it was the worst thing I’ve eaten in years.

I tried to follow the “easy bake” directions, but they turned out not to be so easy. That said, I have one more package of cod and I’d like to try this again. Can anyone suggest a genuinely easy way to cook it? Possibly with a trusted recipe?

[sktarq]

Step one: questions.
Is the cod fresh, salted, or frozen?
For one person, two, or more? (If more than one-how much do you have?)
Is it just the fish? (Is there breading, flavoring, etc strait from the package?)
Anything odd about the kitchen you'll be using (access to stuff beyond oven, stovetop, microwave or lack of access to the same)

Step two questions.
What kind of food do you like?
Allergies?



Personally I make a lemon or lemon/caper sauce steamed dark veggies and either lightly flavored rice.
Similar dishes with a mild mustard sauce, (i more recommend mustard greens and a more punchy starch like parsnip or celery root) also work
Or a warm salad with asparagus, spinach, mustard greens, brocollini etc with a warm herb olive oil and vinegar dressing.

But really what do you like in food?

[Palanan]

Two frozen fillets, 10 oz. total. Just one person for the meal, that being me.

There is some kind of breading stuff that comes with it, but after trying it on the previous disaster of a meal, I'd rather avoid it. I'll probably have naan and hummus for a side, but for the cod itself I'm open to suggestions.

[Willie the Duck]

Butter, lemon, and favored green herb of choice (basil, oregano, etc.) is easy and safe, if less than exciting.

[Imbalance]

Butter, lemon, and favored green herb of choice (basil, oregano, etc.) is easy and safe, if less than exciting.

This is the correct answer. Granted, there are a lot of ways to flavor it, but nailing the texture is the tricky bit.
The butter and lemon combo help with that.

[Razade]

A few nights ago I tried cooking some cod and it was a tough, rubbery disaster. I’m not sure if I overcooked or undercooked, but it was the worst thing I’ve eaten in years.

I tried to follow the “easy bake” directions, but they turned out not to be so easy. That said, I have one more package of cod and I’d like to try this again. Can anyone suggest a genuinely easy way to cook it? Possibly with a trusted recipe?

Tough and rubbery = Overcooked. Undercooked would be mushy and soft. Muscle firms up as it's cooked. Did you thaw the fish first? Cooking it from frozen might be a reason it got overcooked.


If you want it as simple as can be. Butter a pan, add herbs and garlic until they're hissing and then remove them from the pan. Put the fillets in and cooking them. Depending on their thickness it'll take usually five minutes on each side to cook all the way through but your stove top and appliances will change that time as well. You know you're cooking situation better than anyone. You want the inside of the fish to lose that clear color, juices should run clear and the fish should be flaky. Sprinkle with some lemon juice after you get it off the heat. Let rest for a few minutes.

Doesn't really get easier than that. Not without it coming out bland and tasteless.

[farothel]

I have a very good recepy with a mint sauce. Easy to make as it's basically a thing of 'put everything in the pot and wait until ready'

Here goes. This is a recepy that's originally for 4, although the amounts put here are better suited for 3. But you can adapt easily and another advantage, you can freeze what's left over and reheat later. I Always make more (as it's just as easy to do) and freeze the rest.

so here we go.

ingredients (serves 3-4, depending on how much you eat):
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 tin of peeled and cut tomatoes (about 400 grams)
1.5 teaspoons of finely chopped mint (can be dried mint if you don't have fresh, but take a bit more then)
2 dl of white wine
600 grams of fish (I often take three different kinds, but you can do it with one kind and the Original recepy was with cod anyway)
peper and salt

recepy:

-clean and cut the onion and the garlic. Onion in little cubes, garlic as fine as you can manage
-put some oil or butter in a pot or pan and put the onion and garlic in. Let it glace a bit.
-then add the tomatoes and the wine
-if it cooks, add the fish, which you cut first in blocks about 2cm of size (that way they cook faster and it's easier)
-let it stew for 15 minutes on a low fire with the lid on the pot
-add the mint and pepper and salt like you want it and cook for 2 minutes more.

You eat it with bread, bread rolls or something like that. I prefer to get those little baguettes you have to put in the oven for about 15 minutes. It's easy, when you add the fish, you put the baguettes in the oven and they're done at the same time.

That's it, as I said, it's easy. The longest and toughest job is cutting the onion, garlic and the fish. And if you replace the mint with thym, rosemary or those kind of herbs, you have an italian sauce that can go easy with chicken for instance (although in that case I would bake the chicken before you put it in, as it takes longer than fish).

[dps]

I tried to follow the “easy bake” directions, but they turned out not to be so easy.

DON'T bake the filets; fry them.

It's not that you can't make a good meal by baking fish, but if you're not used to cooking it, it's easier to fry than to bake or grill.

And while you can cook frozen foodstuffs directly from the freezer, again, if it's an item you don't have much experience with, most things are easier to cook well if you thaw them first.

[The_New_Guy]

Thaw the cod fillets. When they are ready to cook, render some pork fatback down to crispy (but not burnt) in your frying pan. While that is happening make a mixture of salt, pepper and flour. Dredge the now thawed fillet in it. Fry it in the rendered pork fat (if you cannot get fatback then whatever oil you have is fine). Enjoy your pan fried cod and pork scrunchions - a very simple, very tasty dish.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Razade
If you want it as simple as can be. Butter a pan, add herbs and garlic until they're hissing and then remove them from the pan. Put the fillets in and cooking them. Depending on their thickness it'll take usually five minutes on each side to cook all the way through….

Thanks, I appreciate this level of detail.

Just tried cooking another pair of fillets in a pan, five minutes on a side. They still came out tough and rubbery, but slightly more edible than last time. Same brand of frozen cod, a two-for-one deal.

I’m not a great cook, but I also think it was just poor-quality cod. Both times the fish had a mealy texture, and eating it was a chore.

I can cook catfish to perfection, but I think cod just isn’t for me.

[Razade]

Thanks, I appreciate this level of detail.

Just tried cooking another pair of fillets in a pan, five minutes on a side. They still came out tough and rubbery, but slightly more edible than last time. Same brand of frozen cod, a two-for-one deal.

I’m not a great cook, but I also think it was just poor-quality cod. Both times the fish had a mealy texture, and eating it was a chore.

I can cook catfish to perfection, but I think cod just isn’t for me.

It's fully possible you got some old fish. If you've tried to cook it several ways at varying lengths of time and they came out not to your liking each time either cod isn't for you or bad cod isn't for you. Either way, you did what you could.

If you really just want to do some quick whitefish I'd suggest getting it as fresh as possible. I know that's not always possible. I live in Phoenix where there's no ocean and it's difficult to keep food like fish good for long in the warmer months. But do your best.

I personally enjoy cod/whitefish with a quick marinade in soy sauce (I use dark soy, it's thicker and sweeter and way less salty) with some ginger and garlic. It soaks it up like a sponge, no more than an hour especially if you've put some kind of acid in there. Quick cook on both sides in some sesame seed oil, heat the marinade all the way through and serve over rice with some sesame seeds and mixed veg. I like green onion, broccoli and red pepper.

[sktarq]

A couple things about cod.

it is generally less "fishy" than most due to its extremely low fat content.

because for so long it was a prized fish and was overfished to the point of collapse it still has an issue with being mislabeled (and much non-farm raised seafood has this issue) which can throw a wrench in a lot of issues.

Also if the fish is a more thin cut (low and flat and about 1 inch/2.5cm thick it cooks quite differently that the often twice that more blocky cuts found in other parts of the world. So if it is thin I'd probably say closer to 3 min per side.

it generally wants a lower heat (like chicken or pork) rather than something like beef.

It being frozen allow for a lot of the water to leak out upon thawing, this can make it mushy seamy and thus fool you into thinking it needs to be cooked more. Again best done fresh.

if you are not deep fat frying it too much oil can be an issue as it can cause the outer parts to cook faster than the middle so that when it is done in the middle the outer parts are old boots. Sure "blackened cod" is a thing, just not where I recommend you start you cooking attempts.

I generally recommend either lifting the fish by only part of the bottom so that the ends droop, if the flakes open up it is go sign its getting close to cooked and you can check the middle of the flakes for translucence. This can also be one by brushing against the grain of the flakes with the back of knife to see how easily they want to separate.

[Peelee]

If you want it as simple as can be. Butter a pan, add herbs and garlic until they're hissing

I really want to see someone put a pan on an eye, turn it on, and then just keep dumping spoonfuls of minced garlic into the pan, just constantly, spoonful after spoonful, until they start to hiss.

Or, put shorter, I want to see a third-person perspective of myself cooking.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Razade
I personally enjoy cod/whitefish with a quick marinade in soy sauce (I use dark soy, it's thicker and sweeter and way less salty) with some ginger and garlic. It soaks it up like a sponge, no more than an hour especially if you've put some kind of acid in there. Quick cook on both sides in some sesame seed oil, heat the marinade all the way through and serve over rice with some sesame seeds and mixed veg.

Ginger and soy sounds fantastic, thanks. I will keep this in mind if I can find some decent whitefish.

Originally Posted by sktarq
I generally recommend either lifting the fish by only part of the bottom so that the ends droop, if the flakes open up it is go sign its getting close to cooked and you can check the middle of the flakes for translucence. This can also be one by brushing against the grain of the flakes with the back of knife to see how easily they want to separate.

I salute your cod expertise. One thing’s for sure, I won’t be buying frozen cod again.

On a better note, I found catfish (it’s really hard to find in my area) so that’s lunch today. I love my Pakistani catfish.

Originally Posted by Peelee
I really want to see someone put a pan on an eye, turn it on, and then just keep dumping spoonfuls of minced garlic into the pan, just constantly, spoonful after spoonful, until they start to hiss.

Or, put shorter, I want to see a third-person perspective of myself cooking.

I...can’t quite make sense of this, sorry.

[Peelee]

I...can’t quite make sense of this, sorry.

Think like a programmer. For example, the old joke: My wife said, "please go to the store and buy a carton of milk and if they have eggs, get six." I came back with 6 cartons of milk. She said, "why in the hell did you buy six cartons of milk?" I said, "they had eggs."

In this case, "add garlic until it hisses" = continually add garlic nonstop until it hisses. And then a bad joke about how I cook with copious amounts of garlic.

[Razade]

You know what they say about explaining a joke and how it's like dissecting a frog? You get the joke but the frog is dead.

[Tarmor]

Think like a programmer. For example, the old joke: My wife said, "please go to the store and buy a carton of milk and if they have eggs, get six." I came back with 6 cartons of milk. She said, "why in the hell did you buy six cartons of milk?" I said, "they had eggs."

In this case, "add garlic until it hisses" = continually add garlic nonstop until it hisses. And then a bad joke about how I cook with copious amounts of garlic.

I like garlic, but what do you do with all the spoons?

[Imbalance]

I like garlic, but what do you do with all the spoons?

Right? And when I tried it, it was terribly difficult to see where to put them, what with the skillet on my face.

[Tyndmyr]

A few nights ago I tried cooking some cod and it was a tough, rubbery disaster. I’m not sure if I overcooked or undercooked, but it was the worst thing I’ve eaten in years.

I tried to follow the “easy bake” directions, but they turned out not to be so easy. That said, I have one more package of cod and I’d like to try this again. Can anyone suggest a genuinely easy way to cook it? Possibly with a trusted recipe?

Grab a pan. Put the cod in it. Preheat the oven till about 400. Generously apply lemon pepper seasoning to cod. Tin foil over the pan, enclosing the cod within. Toss it in, and 15-20 minutes later, you'll be good. You want the stuff opaque, and kind of flaking apart when you poke at it. If it's clearish in the middle or rubbery, it isn't yet done and needs a bit more.

There's a way to emulate that in the microwave, but it's much touchier, and many have an aversion to cooking fish in the microwave, so I'll leave it off for now.

If the texture was really off, you might just have old cod, which is kind of hard to fix.

[Albion]

Do it softly on both sides, and if you don't use butter then at least use something greasy.

[Maelstrom]

If the cod is old, you can try poaching it in simmering milk for about four minutes (kinda depends on the thickness of the piece), but the goal is not to cook it entirely. After the four minutes, get a good sear on it by putting it into a very hot pan with butter/oil, garlic/shallots optional (not olive oil, very hot pan and olive oil do not mix) for 30-45 seconds per side, spooning the hot oil/butter onto the top while sizzling. Take of heat, drizzle with a touch of olive oil and lemon juice, salt pepper, capers if you have them, and finely minced fresh parsley and enjoy

[Willie the Duck]

Do it softly on both sides, and if you don't use butter then at least use something greasy.

Are we still talking about cooking cod?

[Peelee]

Are we still talking about cooking cod?

That's what the youth are calling it these days.