FMC Catering Service on Seafood Cooking Made Quick and Easy

From FMC Catering Service to our valued customers and readers:

Seafood Tool Set, 8-Piece
Everything you need to fully enjoy crab, crawfish or lobster

Seafood is a favorite anywhere in the world because of its taste, variety and the many cooking possibilities it offers. It is also very healthful food if prepared well. If you want to start exploring seafood cooking now, here are tips to help you get started:

Seafood takes less time to cook.
One of the joys of seafood is that it cooks quickly. As long as you have the washing and the cleaning out of the way, any type of seafood will be incredibly easy to cook. Fish, for example, usually takes about 9 to 10 minutes for every inch of thickness, whether you’re frying or steaming. You’ll need to turn the fish halfway through. If you have thinner slices, you can basically leave the fish alone.

Fat-filled fish, such as salmon and tuna are excellent for most cooking methods. Some fish, such as grouper and tilapia, need sauces or at least some basting during cooking when you’re using the baking or broiling methods. Fish only needs to be cooked for about 18 to 20 minutes if it’s been frozen.

If you’re cooking different types of seafood at the same time, arrange them in such a way that those which have similar cooking times are cooked together. When cooking fish, you should also put them in the pan skin side first. If cooking a whole fish, it may be better to use a thermometer. Insert this device into the part of the fish where it is thickest and make sure the temperature has reached 60C or 140F.

Marinating your seafood before cooking
Seafood is one of the simplest foods to cook and may be seasoned during and after cooking. However, if you want a lot of flavor, use marinades. Set aside some marinade to use for basting before putting in the raw seafood. When seafood is soaked, make sure to place it inside the refrigerator. This helps lower the risk of bacterial growth. When done, throw away the marinade. Raw seafood juice often contains bacteria, which makes the marinade unsafe for re-use.

Cooking seafood
Most seafood’s, such as fish, oysters, clams and scallops, turn opaque when cooked. This takes about 3 to 5 minutes of cooking time so you will have to watch out. If you overcook seafood, it will be tough and won’t taste as good. These types of seafood also need to be basted if you’ll be using dry heat for cooking, such as baking and broiling.