PREPARE AND COOK SEAFOOD

Learning Outcome 1: Prepare the Kitchen Tools and

Ingredients
Perform Mise’ En Place

You are about to learn the following from this lesson:

•Tools and equipment needed
•Types of seafood: shellfish, fin fish, others
•Variety of fish: structure, body shape, market forms, fat contents, water
source, processed fish, others
•Market forms of fish and fish products
•Fish cuts
•Composition and nutritive value of fish (scaling, cutting of tails and
fins,
Eviscerating, cleansing, canning)
Classifications of Seafood

• I. Fin fish – fish with fins and internal skeletons

A. Saltwater fish
1. flatfish
• a. flounder
• b. sole
2. round fish
• a. black sea bars
• b. bluefish
• c. cod
• d. grouper
Classifications of Seafood

B. Freshwater fish
1. cat fish
2. eel
3. tilapia
Classifications of Seafood

II. Shell fish – fish with external shells but no internal bone structure. They
have hard outer shells.
Two classifications of Shellfish
A. Mollusks – are soft sea animals
1. bivalves – they have a pair of hinged shells (clams, oysters)
2. univalves – they have a single shell (abalone)
3. cephalopods – (octopus, squid)
B. Crustaceans – are animals with segmented shells and jointed legs
(shrimps, crabs)
 Classifications of Seafood
• Two classifications of Shellfish

• A. Mollusks – are soft sea animals

1.bivalves – they have a pair of hinged shells (clams, oysters)

2. univalves – they have a single shell (abalone)
3. cephalopods – (octopus, squid)
Classifications of Seafood

B. Crustaceans – are animals with segmented shells and jointed legs

(shrimps, crabs)
Parts of a Fish
• External anatomy of a fish
Parts of a Fish
• Internal anatomy of a fish
Composition and Structure:

• A fish is made up of water, protein, fats and small amount of minerals and
vitamins. It has very little connective tissue. This means that:
• 1. Fish cooks very quickly, even at low heat.
• 2. Fish is naturally tender. High heat will result to toughening of protein.
• 3. Moist-heat methods are used not to create tenderness but to preserve
• moistness and provide variety.
• 4. Cooked fish must be handled very carefully
A. Fat fish -- are those that are high in fat. (salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel)
B. Lean fish – are those that are low in fat. (sole, cod, red snapper, bass)
Market Forms of Fish

• Whole or round – completely intact, as caught

• Drawn – viscera removed
• Dressed -- viscera, scales, head, tail and
fins removed
• Steaks – cross-section slices, each
containing a section of backbone
Market Forms of Fish

• Fillets – boneless side of fish, with or without skin

• Butterflied fillets – both sides of a fish
still joined, but with bones removed
• Sticks or tranches – cross-section slices
of fillets
Market forms of Shellfish
A. Mollusks
•Oysters have rough, irregular shells.
•Flesh of oyster is extremely soft and delicate and contains high percentage
of water.
•Hard-shell clams – can be eaten raw
•Soft-shell clams are called steamers. The usual way to cook is to steam
•The shells of mussels are not as heavy as clamshells, yellow to orange in
color and firm but tender when cooked.
•Scallops are creamy white in color and have a sweet flavor.
•Squid is somewhat chewy and are cut up or either fried quickly.
Market forms of Shellfish

• B. Crustaceans
• The lobster shell is dark green or bluish green but turns red when cooked.
• Live lobster must be alive when cooked
Market Forms of Shellfish

• A. Mollusks
1. live in the shell
2. shucked – fresh or frozen
3. canned
• B. Crustaceans
1. live
2. cooked meat, fresh or frozen
Identify the market forms of fish. Write your
answer in your test notebook.
Fish Processing Methods
• Salting- Salting is the preservation of food with dry edible salt
Pickle salting
Brine salting
Dry salting
• Smoking- is a method of drying that also imparts flavor to the food (usually
meat items), and smoke helps keep bacteria-carrying-insects away during
the drying process.
• Drying- Food drying is a method of food preservation in which food is
dried (dehydrated or desiccated).
• Curing- curing refers to various preservation and flavoring processes,
especially of meat or fish, by the addition of a combination of salt, sugar
and either nitrate or nitrite.
Fish Processing Methods
• Dehydration- s a process technique of removal of water from fish bodies
by mechanical means i.e. heat and humid air over the fish.
• Hot smoking- Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or
preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering
material, most often wood.
• Canning- Canning is relatively modern process, which enable food to be
preserved in an edible condition under a wide range of storage
• Fermentation- Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces
chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes
Handle Fish and Seafood
Learning outcome 2
Checking freshness of fish

Fin Fish
1. Fresh and mild odor
2. Eyes are clear, shiny and bulging
3. Red or pink gills
4. Texture of flesh is firm or elastic
5. Shiny scales, and tightly cling, on skin
Checking freshness of fish

Shellfish
1. Oysters, clams, mussels in the shell must be alive and tightly closes shells
when jostled.
2. Live or shucked oysters must have a very mild, sweet smell.
3. Discard any mussels that are very light in weight or seem to be hollow.
4. Strong fishy odor or a brownish color is a sign of age or spoilage.
Checking freshness of fish

• 5. Live lobsters must be alive when cooked. The meat will be firm and the
tail springs back when straightened.
• 6. Frozen shrimps should be solidly frozen when received.
• 7. Glazed shrimps should be shiny with no freezer burn.
• 8. All shrimps should smell fresh and sweet. A strong fishy or iodine smell
indicates age or spoilage.
Checking freshness of fish

• Live crabs should be kept alive until cooked.

• 10. Frozen crabmeat should be treated like any other frozen fish.
Handling and Storage of Fish

Fresh Fish
1. Store on crushed ice. Use drip pans to allow for drainage of melted ice.
Change ice daily. Cover container or store in separate box away from
other foods. Whole fish should be drawn because entrails deteriorate
rapidly. Cut fish should be wrapped or left in original moisture-proof wrap.
2. In refrigerated box at 30° to 34°F (-1° to 1°C)
3. Fresh fish may be stored for 1 to 2 days. If kept
longer, wrap and freeze immediately.
4. Check store fish for freshness just before using.
Handling and Storage of Fish

Frozen Fish
1. Frozen products should be frozen, not thawed when received.
2. Items should be well wrapped, with no freezer burn.
3. Store at 0°F (-18°C or colder)
4. Maximum storage time
• Fat fish – 2 months
• Lean fish – 6 months
5. Rotate stock – first in, first out.
Thawing and Handling Frozen Fish

• 1. Thaw in refrigerator, never at room temperature.

• If pressed for time, keep in original moisture-proof wrapper and thaw
under cold running water.
• 2. Small pieces like fillets and steaks can be cooked from frozen state to
prevent excessive drip loss. Large fish should be thawed for even cooking.
• 3. Fillets that are to be breaded can be partially thawed.
• 4. Handle thawed fish as fresh fish. Do not refreeze.
• 5. Breaded, battered and other frozen prepared fish items are mostly
cooked from frozen state.
Shellfish

1. Mussels
• Keep refrigerated (32°F to 35°F/0° to 2°C). and protect from light.
• Store in original sack and keep sack damp.
Shellfish

2. Scallops
• Shucked scallops can be cooked without further
preparation.
• Keep scallops covered and refrigerated (30°F to
34°F). Do not let them rest directly on ice or they
will lose flavor and become watery.
 Shellfish
3. Lobsters
• Live lobsters are either live or cup up before cooking. Live lobsters are
plunged head first into boiling water, then simmered for 5 – 6 minutes.
If served hot, they are drained well and split in half, and claws are cracked.
• Live lobsters can be kept in two ways.
• packed in moist seaweed, kept in a cool place in saltwater.
• Cooked lobster meat must be covered and refrigerated at 30° to 34°F. It is
very perishable and should be used in 1 – 2 days.
 Shellfish
4. Shrimps
Kept frozen at 0°F (-18°C) or lower.
• Thaw in refrigerator
• Peeled shrimps should be wrapped before
placing on ice.
• Shrimps to be served hot must be peeled and
deveined before cooking.
• Shrimps to be served cold, must be peeled after
cooking to preserve flavor.
 Shellfish
5. Crabs
• Live crabs should be kept alive until cooked.
• Frozen crabmeat is very perishable when
thawed. It must be treated like any other frozen
fish.
Cook Fish and Shellfish
Learning outcome 3
Cooking Techniques for Fish and Shellfish

Fishes are very delicate and are easily overcooked. During cooking, a test for
doneness must be observed.

1. The fish just separates into flakes

2. If bone is present, the flesh separates from the bone, and the bone is no
longer pink
3. The flesh becomes opaque (usually white)
Cooking Techniques for Fish and Shellfish

Lean fish
•Lean fish has almost no fat, so it easily becomes dry. It is best served with
sauces to enhance moistness and gives richness.
•Poaching is the moist heat method suited
•Fish should be basted with butter or oil if broiled or baked.
•Lean fish maybe fried or sautéed to gain palatability from added fat.
Cooking Techniques for Fish and Shellfish

Fat Fish
•The fat in fish, enables them to tolerate more heat without becoming dry.
•Fat fish can be cooked by poaching.
•Fat fish are well suited to broiling and baking. The dry heat methods
eliminate excessive oiliness.
•Large fat fish like salmon, and mackerel may be cooked in fat, but care
should be taken to avoid excessive greasiness.
Cooking Techniques for Fish and Shellfish

Shellfish
•Cook oyster just enough to heat thoroughly to keep it juicy and plump.
•Clams become tough and rubbery if overcooked
•Shrimps like other shellfish, become tough and rubbery when cooked at
high temperature
Scaling Whole Fish
Once your work area and fish are ready, you can begin the actual scaling
process.
1. Lay your fish flat on the board or hold it steady in the water.
2. Hold the fish down firmly with your hand near its head.
3. Begin to rake the scales from the tail towards the head. They should start
coming off in clumps.
4. Be sure to remove the scales on both sides of the fish, as well as scales
near the fins, the collar and the tail.
5. When you think you have gotten most of the scales, rinse the fish off
again with water. This will wash away any loose scales and help you to
identify any remaining scales that need to be removed.
Skinning Fish

• Stop when you have an inch or two (25

to 50mm) of fillet released.
• Change your grip on the fillet to a
secure grip on the tab of fish skin you
created with the first cut.
• Firmly hold the knife still and at a fixed
angle.
Skinning Fish

• Wriggle the skin from side to side while

pulling backwards on the tab of fish skin.
• Continue this motion through the fillet; You can see that even though the
skin in the left hand is creased under the tension
it has no effect where the fillet knife is separating the fish skin from the
flesh
• The fillet and skin are parted and no flesh has
been wasted, nor have we left any skin or
scales on the filet. If you scroll up you will
note the knife has not moved over the last
four fish skinning pictures.
Deboning Fish
Opening Oysters
Opening clams
How to clean squid
Splitting a Lobster
Principles in Cooking Fish and Shellfish

• Fish require less cooking time.

• Fish cooks quickly in moderate heat
• Roll the fish in bread crumbs before frying
• Fish maybe boiled as in inihaw, stuffed as in relleno, boiled as in sinigang,
and sauted with vegetables as in bulanglang.
• Fish is cooked when it flakes easily and the eyeballs come out
• Shellfish require only short cooking time to avoid loss of moisture, flavor,
and nutritive value
• Fatfish tastes better when cooked in dry heat either by boiling or baking
• Fish maybe fried at moderate heat until brown
• When baking fish, taste the fish to prevent it from drying
Methods of Cooking Fish and Shellfish

• Dry heat cooking

Baking
Broiling
Deep frying
Pan frying
Sauteing
• Moist Heat Method of cooking
Boiling
Poaching
steaming
Activity

• Identify the method of cooking in each item. Choose your answer from the
box below.

Sauteing, deep frying, baking, steaming, broiling, poaching

• 1. cooking seafood with steam

• 2. cooking with small amount of fat, to toss smaller pieces of food in a
saute pan
• 3. cooking fish in an oven with a temperature of 300 degree Fahrenheit
• 4. cooking in an open flame
• 5. cooking fish in hot oil until it turns into golden brown
Plating and Presenting Fish and Seafood Dishes

• Embellishment- these are decorations to make the presentation of dishes

appealing and attractive
• Plating- the arrangement and styling of food to the plate when serving.
Fundamentals of Plating
A. Balance – select foods and garnishes that offer variety and contrast
•color – two or three colors on a plate
•shapes – variety of shapes
•textures – variety of textures
•flavors
B. Portion size
•match portion sizes and plates – select plates large enough to hold all the
items without crowding
•balance the portion sizes of the items on the plate – don’t let the main item
get lost with excessive garnish
•arrangement on the plate –
Fundamentals of Plating

Guidelines to Attractive Plating

•Keep food off the rim of the plate.
•Arrange the items for the convenience of the customer.
•Keep space between items. Each item should have its own identity.
•Maintain unity. Create a center of attention and relate everything to it.
•Make every component count.
•Add gravy or sauce attractively.
•Keep it simple.
Fundamentals of Plating
C. Serve hot food hot, on hot plates
Serve cold food cold, on cold plates
Examples of Garnishes or Accompaniment for Plating
• Bouqetiere - bouquet of vegetables
• Jardinière - garden vegetables
• Clamart - peas
• Crecy - carrots
• Doria - cucumbers (cooked in butter)
• DuBarry - cauliflower
• Fermiere - carrots, turnips, onions and celery cut into uniform slices
• Forestiere - mushrooms
• Lyonnaise - onions
• Nicoise - tomatoes concasse cooked with garlic
Serving Baked Fish
Serving Broiled Lobster
Serving Poached or Simmered Fish in Court
bouillon
Serving Poached Fish in Fumet and Wine
Glazing