Tips of How to Bake a Fish

Do you like to prepare fish recipes? What methods of cooking do you apply? Do you know that fishes can be baked? It might be surprising to some people since the first thing that comes into our mind when we speak of baking is making bread, cookies, pizza or maybe lasagna. You might not know that you can also prepare a mouth-watering baked tilapia.

Baking can be considered a cooking method that requires time, effort and patient. You have to follow right measurement for the ingredients so you will get the desired result and you also need to check from time to time the food you are baking but the wait is worth it for you will surely like the fruit of your labor.

Now, let’s get back to preparing baked fish. This might be new to some people but then there are many delightful baked fish dishes that you can now prepare ranging from fillet to a whole fish. Generally, baked fish are cooked in a very high temperature. But the problem encountered by some who have tried it is that the fish sometimes become too dry and less tasty. This is one reason why some people decide to avoid baking fish.

Well, there are techniques that you can apply to avoid getting a dry fish when baking. Below are some tips for you on how to bake a fish perfectly.

The first thing that you should consider is the quality of your fish that you are planning to baked. It must be fresh or else it won’t taste good. A wise move is to buy fishes from trusted fish vendors and markets. Then, check thoroughly the fish to see if it is really fresh. Below are descriptions of fresh and stale fish.

Stale fish
• If you check its gills it is usually gray in color and slimy. It also has a foul smell that you can surely notice.
• Its eyes are cloudy and sometimes dark red in color. Also, if you were to look at the fish thoroughly, its eyes are a little bit sunken which means that the fish has been dead for hours.

Fresh fish
• The fish eyes are bright, clear and slightly protruded.
• Its gills are colored red or pink and do not have a foul smell once you check it out.

After choosing and buying fresh fish, you should rinse it thoroughly yet gently inside and out using cold water. It would be best to dry it out using paper towel before placing the fish on the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and while waiting for the oven to reach the right temperature, start marinating the fish. Add some spices like garlic, onion or salt for a more flavorful dish. Wait for about 5-10 minutes before putting the fish inside the oven.

Now, when the oven reaches the right temperature you can choose whether to add oil to your fish or not since fish already has natural oil in it. Besides marinating the fish, while baking you can also add some bread crumbs or other spices to add texture and distinct flavor to it.

The general rule in baking fishes is to bake it 10 minutes per inch. Baking fish lies on how thick the fish is so if it’s lesser by 1 inch, less time must be consumed during baking. Check the fish from time to time so it won’t get overcooked and dry up. Lastly, it would be best to partner your baked fish with some vegetables for a complete balanced meal.