Now Where Did I Go Wrong in the Process?
By not cooking Pacific cod often, I forgot that it was a leaner and meatier fish. As a result, I was planning to avoid making this type of fish in the future, after my recent attempts. However, after some research, I decided to try recipes that use more oil or fat instead.
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I was looking for something easy to cook and had some frozen cod fillets in the freezer that needed to be used. After some searching, I found a recipe for steaming them.
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I discovered, Steamed Cod with Ginger and Scallions, seemed simple enough. It was from Leite’s Culinaria, a website where I found an essay written back in 1998 about capturing family recipes on VCR cassettes! You can find out what else is there on the Meet David page.
First Try
For my first attempt, I only had to purchase some scallions.
Ingredients to Use
With five cod fillets, I increased the rest of the measured ingredients as follows:
- 3 1/2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon of rice vinegar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of ginger
- 8 scallions
Also, I slightly modified two of the items. Instead of grated ginger, I simply used ginger slices. For the black pepper, I used rainbow pepper as a substitute.
Steps to Prepare
For each of the steps in the directions, I adjusted them as I went, as shown below:
Step 1 – Since I didn’t have a non-reactive skillet for the vinegar, I used a saucepan instead.
Step 2 – I ended up simmering the cod fillets for about 11 minutes since they were thick.
Step 3 – Because I missed the instructions to slice the green onions lengthwise, I had cut them widthwise.
Step 4 – The cod fillets didn’t look completely opaque until about 5 minutes after turning them, so that resulted in about 3 extra minutes of cooking time.
Step 5 – Considering that I didn’t have a slotted metal spatula, I used a serving spoon instead.
Time to Eat
When I removed the cod from the saucepan, they looked dry.
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7️⃣ | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 🤔 |
Even though the sauce tasted okay, the fish was rubbery!
Second Try
When it came to my second attempt, I focused on the following three items:
- Only cook the number of fillets that would easily fit in the saucepan.
- Have all the ingredients ready before turning on the stove.
- Stick to the recommended cooking times.
Ingredients to Use
With three cod fillets this time, I used the same remaining ingredients as before, but decreased the amounts as follows:
- 2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon of rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of ginger
- 4 1/2 scallions
Steps to Prepare
For this round, I modified only a few of the steps as follows:
Step 2 – To be conservative, I cooked the first side of the fillets for only 5 minutes.
Step 3 – For scallions, I didn’t want to make a special trip to the supermarket, so I just used both the green and white parts in order to have enough. However, I did slice them lengthwise this time.
Step 4 – For the second side, I just stuck with the recommended simmering time of 2 minutes.
Time to Eat
For the second try, the cod fillets looked more appetizing.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7️⃣ | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 🤔 |
Although the fish fillets were edible this time, they tasted mostly of ginger. What I was looking for was that smooth texture that I usually had with steamed fish.
Trying this recipe with cod fillets opened my eyes. Instead of altering it to match my preferences next time, I will do the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Try a different recipe for cod that uses oil or butter.
After steaming cod fillets, I learned the following that I would like to share with my dumber self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- To steam fish that results in a silky and soft texture, use a whole fish in the method that I did previously.
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the recipe, Steamed Cod with Ginger and Scallions, from the website, Leite’s Culinaria?
- Learn more ways to cook cod, starting with How to Cook Cod: 7 Best Cooking Methods, Plus Recipes from LIVESTRONG.com?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)