Food

[DbPhoenix 42]

The subject of crisp fish came up today in the chat room, and I said I'd explain how to go about achieving same. But there's no place to do that, so I started this thread.

 

Two things to remember when you want crisp fish (or veggies or chicken or whatever; bell peppers are great).

 

First is that it should be dry. You can start out with something dry, like chicken breasts or tilapia, or you can dry whatever you have, like pollock, by wrapping it in three or four paper towels and squeezing them out (the towels) as they become saturated. Why? Because all that water turns to steam once it hits the hot fat and reaches boiling temperature (212F at sea level). Unless you cook the fish until it's completely dry (and if it starts out wet, that will take a good long while), that steam will continue to exit through your crust even after the fish is draining on the rack and thus soften your crust. But if you cook the fish until it's completely dry and there're no steam bubbles at all, the frying fat will begin to push its way into your fish, and it will be "greasy".

 

So dry the fish first.

 

Second, toss the fish and veggies and whatever else in rice flour. Not corn flour. Not wheat flour. Not corn starch. Not oat flour. Rice flour. If you can't get it at the grocer's, you can get it at an Asian market. Add a little salt and pepper if you like. Once you've tossed whatever in the rice flour, lay it out on a rack for a while so that the flour can seal itself to whatever it is you're cooking.

 

After that, prepare your batter and heat your fat. If you've done the above, it's hard to go wrong. I personally use a batter of rice flour, all-purpose (or medium protein) wheat flour, and enough beer to bring this to a heavy cream consistency (120g of rice flour and 40g of a-p flour, if you want a place to start, for about 360g of food; this amount takes about 220ml of beer; drink the rest). The fat should be around 350F to 375F. Too hot and the fish will overbrown before it's done. Not hot enough and you don't get the steam and your fish soaks up the fat and gets greasy. And don't overload the pan so that the fat drops too much below 300. The lower the temp, the more likely you'll have greasy food.

 

Then drain all of this on a rack (not on paper towels; that just puts the grease back in the food) and eat it. Or invite people over and impress your friends (depending on how easily your friends are impressed).

[DaKine 10]

Thanks Db this post is making me hungry YUM!

[waveslider 10]

Thanks DB,

 

I like to collect chanterelle and other mushys on the island, and its always a little tough to get the nice crispy texture in these mush. because there is so much moisture in them.

 

I agree about starting out dry. I will normally cook these at a medium high temp till it looks like I have cooked out the water.

 

Then I put a little vinegar, nothing too strong - red wine vinegar is good for those portabello. Add some garlic here. No oil yet - you want the mushys to soak up the good stuff now that they don't have water in them.

 

Fry them on high heat with some oil.

 

I'm always looking for good constructive criticism/suggestions (as with trading)..

[DbPhoenix 42]

That's exactly right. If the cells aren't saturated with water, they should be more likely to soak up what surrounds them. And there are so many varieties of vinegar, including all the flavored vinegars (like tarragon), you can have a real mushroom fest.

[diablo272 10]

Thanks DB,

 

I like to collect chanterelle and other mushys on the island, and its always a little tough to get the nice crispy texture in these mush. because there is so much moisture in them.

 

I agree about starting out dry. I will normally cook these at a medium high temp till it looks like I have cooked out the water.

 

Then I put a little vinegar, nothing too strong - red wine vinegar is good for those portabello. Add some garlic here. No oil yet - you want the mushys to soak up the good stuff now that they don't have water in them.

 

Fry them on high heat with some oil.

 

I'm always looking for good constructive criticism/suggestions (as with trading)..

 

I'm guessing you know what you're doing, but in case you don't:

 

http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mushrooms/mushroom/

 

Wild mushrooms can be deadly, so be careful.

[Tannism 10]

Wow! I think I get why my batter slips off off onion rings.

 

Knowing it wouldn't compare with fried, what method do you think could be used to get oven cooked food as crisp as possible?

[DbPhoenix 42]

Wow! I think I get why my batter slips off off onion rings.

 

Knowing it wouldn't compare with fried, what method do you think could be used to get oven cooked food as crisp as possible?

 

Depends on the food. Chicken, for example, is lean. But there's a thin layer of subcutaneous fat underneath the skin. So if you roast it at a moderately high temperature, you're going to get a pretty crisp skin. But remember to do most of the cooking breast side down so that the fat and juices drip into the breast rather than out of it. Then finish roasting breast side up to crisp the skin. Wings, drumsticks and thighs will crisp regardless because they have more fat to begin with.

 

As for french fries, onion rings, and so on, specially-engineered product will crisp better than what you try to do "from scratch". So just buy the frozen stuff at the store.

[bbj_anchor 10]

Waveslider....mushys lots of them up island. I have friends who bring them in for a pretty good living most years. Amazing the huge variety and differences in taste.

 

If you would, please Have a look at the file I have posted in VSA thread and see if you see any way to improve my directional analysis for options. I am new to threads etc, but have 8500 hours dedicated to my search for the Holy Grail of options trading...hehehe. I feel T/A stuff is pretty useless as all past history. VSA seems more current and tradeable with my signals being only a few hours ancient history.

 

Thanks, BBJ in Campbell River

[ESTRDR 10]

i'm getting hungry ^^

[ALexLutiera 10]

Eating is one of people's hobbies. But, I just hope, that when they eat, they also think of the nutrition they intake. Eating a lot of green leafy vegetables and fruits are very healthy!! Even, chicken's meat is much healthy than pork. People has to avoid processed food because it is not good for our health. We should love our body and health to avoid future diseases. =D