Cooking Blackened Fish
Cooking blackened fish can be slightly tricky if you do not have a commercial kitchen. For the most part, it is best to prepare this meal outside – just in case you set off those smoke alarms!
The recipes for cooking blackened fish is actually quite simple, though the method will cause quite a bit of smoke and char if you are not careful. Essentially, this type of dish is prepared using a lot of pepper, which causes the flesh of the fish to turn dark. The dish is extremely popular throughout the Southern states, and it has becoming a staple of good health throughout the state of Louisiana. This meal is not for the faint of heart (lots of pepper!), though those that don’t like the taste of fish will like this dish since it tends to mask a lot of the flavor.
In order to prepare this meal, you will need to have some firm type of fish, along with quite a few peppercorns (crushed), or a special seasoning mix (you can find these in gourmet stores). Whatever you do, do not use regular pepper for this meal, since it will not provide the same result. To make this meal, heat a cast iron pan until it is very hot, and then carefully transfer it to a grill. Baste each piece with melted butter until coated, and then douse each side with black pepper. Once all sides are coated, place them inside of the pan for approximately two minutes.
Since this recipe uses butter, make sure to wipe out the pan in between each use. Otherwise, the butter will burn and ruin your recipe. Really, that’s all there is to cooking blackened fish, just watch out for those smoke alarms. Also, it is a good idea to keep all windows open while creating this type of meal. Various chefs throughout the nation tend to use different ingredients in order to prepare this dish, though the recipe listed above is the most basic type.
If you want to experiment, you can always use some type of barbeque sauce in addition to the pepper, though this will cause extra smoke. Essentially, you want to make sure that the fish is a dark brown color without actually charring it (if you get to a black color, you may have burned the fish!).
As you can see, there is really no secret to cooking blackened fish other than to keep your home well ventilated while going through this process. In the end, you will have a great meal that is truly impressive.