how to make cod taste good

StormWarrior

Whenever I eat cod from the chippy or in a restaurant it always tastes great, but when I cook it myself it always tastes and smells way too fishy and disgusting. What am I doing wrong?

alie

I always cook my fish in milk, it takes that fishy smell and odour out of the kitchen, if you are deep frying make sure you oil is very hot otherwise your fish will be soggy and that adds to the smell!

StormWarrior

I've been wrapping it in foil, squeezing lemon juice on it and baking it in the oven. But it always ends up dry fishy and smelly. How can I make it juicy and delicious? I don't like milk so that's not an option for me. I really prefer tasteless food.

Krusty_Clown

Why not pan fry the cod in butter after giving a light dusting of flour?
However, I'd suggest that if you prefer tasteless foods, you avoid cod altogether.

Alun

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

However, I'd suggest that if you prefer tasteless foods, you avoid cod altogether.

I agree. Criticizing fish because it tastes " too fishy" seems a little odd to me

Carawaystick

Get fresher fish.
fresh fish usually doesn't smell, or fish that smells usually wasn't swimming in the last 24 hours.

Do you keep it in the coldest part of your fridge between buying and cooking? fish is kept on ice to keep it at 0degrees,

if you can't get absolutely fresh fish, salting it for a few minutes may "freshen" it up - cover in lots of salt, et rest for a few (10-20) mins, rinse the salt away, dry the fish and then cook.

noby

Spot on. Fishy smell means it's not as fresh.

Try making up a beer batter and deep frying it, if you like it chippy-style.

And, perhaps, try something more sustainable.

themadchef

Exactly what the above posters said. fresh fish doesn't smell.

As for your choice of fish, cod is probably one of the least strong smelling fish i would recommend someone trying (if people ask for advice on what to have).

If you want to try a different way to batter the fish:

Seasoned flour in one container
And a mixture of beaten egg and milk in another.

Dip the fish in flour, then milk and egg mix, then back in flour. Repeat if you like a really thick coating. (always flour last or it will make a complete mess of the fryer )


EDIT: If you dont like milk, this will work with water. in fact certain cheap skate places use batter of water and flour. No egg, no milk. just season well. scary thing was, it still tasted nice! Its all down to the quality of your fish.

This layering technique makes for a really crunchy result. Keep the fat temp around 350 degrees to cook through or slap it in the oven to finish it off (NOTE: if you use the oven to finish it off and it's not drained well it will get soggy on the bottom)

antoniosicily

Fresh fish doesn't smell too much, so it shouldn't taste 'too fishy'.

Then, when you have fresh fish, you can try to marinate it for some hours and then cook it as you like, many restaurants marinate the fish :-)

rubadub

If you are not big into cooking you could always buy one uncooked from the chipper and do it yourself! In the chipper they partially cook it when they get it in, so it keeps for longer. I have never done it but I imagine it would do OK in the oven since it has already been deep fried and so have oil in it. I love going into a chipper and seeing them battering up fresh fish like that. Also they tend to be very cheap, I usually get massive portions for around €6, I never get chips so I think they give me a bigger one.

Lidl do lots of frozen unbreaded white fish, probably frozen on the ship so fresh, I leave them defrost in the fridge and fry lightly floured in butter. It is hard for me to get fresh fish during the week, the counter is closed be the time I get home from work. The lidl fillets are all around €10 per kilo.