Whether it’s saltwater or freshwater, freshly caught fish has a delicious, delicate flavor which needs careful preparation in order to preserve the full flavor of the fish. With all the care you took to catch it, you don’t want to spoil it now in the cooking do you? But it’s not difficult; there are a few guidelines to follow that will give you beautifully cooked and tasty fish.

 

The secret to a great tasting fish actually starts much earlier than people usually think, so you need to plan ahead right at the catch if you want your fish to taste as well as it could do. The first thing to do is land your fish carefully. Try to prevent the fish’s flesh from becoming bruised by hard contact with rocks. As soon as you have landed your fish, you should watch it right away. Use a hose or rinse the fish in a bucket of water. This will remove all the slime that naturally collects on the skin of the fish as well as any bacteria that there may be there. You should always remember to use potable water, to avoid contamination.

 

Within an hour of catching the fish, at least – but sooner if you can – you should chill your fish. This will avoid any deterioration in the flesh. Again, this is why you need to plan ahead for taking your fish home to eat. It’s pretty easy to get your freshly caught fish in ice and it doesn’t entail having a lot of expensive equipment. All you need is a small cooler. It should be deep enough to cover a pound of fish with a pound of ice. 

 

Fish should be cleaned as soon as possible, to avoid the initially sterile flesh from being contaminated by the scales, which are not sterile. As with landing your fish, be gentle with it when you are cleaning and gutting the fish. Wounding the fish can spread bacteria there.

 

People worry unnecessarily about gutting their fish. You can make pretty quick work of it; just cut the belly and pull out the blood and guts from inside. They easily come away. After that, do not soak the fish in water as this will wash much of the flavor away and also spoil the texture.

 

If you clean your fish properly and store it as you should, you can actually maintain the flavor, texture and nutritional value for as long as five days.

 

In terms of cooking your fish, there is one simple rule that you must follow regardless of the type of fish or the method of cooking – you need to cook your fish for ten minutes for every inch of fish; make that fifteen minutes per inch if your fish is to be cooked in foil or baked in sauce, which slows down the cooking.

 

If you are cooking frozen fish you should make the cooking time twenty minutes per inch of fish. If you’re going to thaw frozen fish before cooking, do so slowly: slowly thaw in the fridge for twenty-four hours is a good idea or if you haven’t got time for that, run the wrapped fish under cold water; definitely don’t use room temperature water. However, be aware that you run the risk of making your fish mushy if you thaw it before cooking.