While I’m cooking at home, while we’re on a break from our San Francisco Food Tour of North Beach\Little Italy and Chinatown, one of things that is a real treat for me is fresh fish. When I purchase fish, I look for a couple of things. The first rule is that it should be sustainable. In other words, it should be a type of fish that is not being overfished. There a number of places that put out that kind of list. Getting local fish is a good way to do that. The next things are that it should not smell. The simple rule is that you can smell it, it is probably not fresh. If it is a whole fish; it should be bright, and the eyes should be clear.
On our San Francisco Food Tours, our stops are really good in cooking fish. One good rule about cooking fish in a skillet is to cook it at a medium heat. Above a medium heat, it can dry out. The other thing that I like to do is to coat both sides with some olive oil. It seems to protect it as is cooking. And a little butter for basting as I am cooking the fish, seems to help seal in the flavors.
