Everyone knows how they like their steak cooked. When you order steak, the waiter will ask you how you like it cooked. It is just the opposite with seafood. A lot of people don’t even know how done they like it. The waiter never asks you how you like your seafood. It is like the old line my friend Donnie’s father used to use. The waiter would ask Mr. Berger how he liked his eggs and he would say: “On a plate”.
The sad truth is that the default at lesser restaurants is that they overcook the seafood. A really good chef will cook the fish filet to somewhere between medium and medium rare. This is when the filet is the juiciest and the best texture. Getting the fish filet to the perfect medium isn’t all that easy. The thickness of the filet will be a major determinant of how long you need to cook it.
Justin Young, my old chef at Kraft Food Ingredients gets it perfect every time. He is now the chef/owner at Raven & Lily in Collierville TN https://ravenandlilyrestaurant.com I ordered the salmon the other night and told the waitress to have the chef cook it the way he likes it. This is a safe bet with most well trained chefs as it is what they are taught at culinary school. Justin has been a chef at top white table cloth restaurants from Dijon France to Memphis. I once asked him how most diners at better restaurants prefer their steak and seafood. He says that over 75% like it medium rare.
Unfortunately, some people like their seafood well done. The bad news is that if someone wants their seafood well done, they are possibly the type of person to go on social media to complain that the seafood was dry and flavorless. Being a chef isn’t easy. It is hard to give someone what they want, knowing that the end result isn’t up to the chef’s standards.
Note: Above is a Seafood Veggie Bowl with cod and shrimp cooked to a perfect medium.
My favorite story is about a buddy of mine that orders his steak “MEDIUM RARE PLUS”. What does this mean? Pity the poor waitress that has to go into the kitchen and tell the chef . The chef is probably already on edge because some idiot just ordered scallops well done and already has typed a complaint into YELP saying the scallops were dry. Now my buddy the “HIGH ROLLING REDNECK” wants his steak medium rare plus. Said another way, someone asking for medium rare plus makes that person …SPECIAL…
When in doubt, cook your seafood to just medium. This means that the fish isn’t translucent and is still moist. A good chef will use the Goldilocks Touch Test.
- When it is real soft, it is too rare
- When it is real hard, it is too well done
- When it is medium soft, it is JUST RIGHT
If you are still in doubt, go to Raven and Lily in Collierville
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