Fish is one of the most nutritious foods and many families they cannot introduce it because of its rejection, especially in children. There are families where it has been a long time since they have introduced it into their diet and they only use it on days of celebration. Only 65% of households do not enter the shopping cart and from here we are going to encourage you with some tricks to lose the fear of fish.
It must be recognized that fish has created a great upheaval due to the rise in its price, but we can still see that there are offers that we can add to our shopping cart. Our advice and for the fish to be pleasing, it must have a very mild flavor and hardly contain bones. At least, it is the best that can be proposed if its taste is not accepted.
Start with boneless fish
Some fish such as hake are already packaged so that they are completely free of bones. When you're at the fish market ask that most of its thorns be removed, they usually extract the central spine and trim the edges.
When adding them to your shopping list we recommend: hake, sea bass, sea bass, tuna, salmon and sea bream. They are fish with large pieces and they debone much more easily. When you have them at home and before cooking them you can do a little review running his hand and fingers over his flesh and noting if it has any protruding thorns. If this is the case, you can remove it with your fingers or with some tweezers.
Accustom the fish to the palate
There are very soft fish that can be introduced much more easily. White fish are the ones that prevail in many dishes and they can be cooked almost in any way and be enjoyed with total guarantee. Among them hake, emperor fish, pangasius, cod, haddock, tilapia or monkfish.
- If you opt for a fish with more flavor on a specific day, you can use some tricks to smooth it out. The flavor will be concretized by the way it thaws, the freshness of their catch and the way they are cooked.
- If you buy it frozen thaw very slowly, not drastically or by doing it through the microwave.
- If you are going to cook it with any sauce, it is always better than first sauté it a little in the pan and with oil. If you do not do this step, the flavor of the fish may always be much stronger.
- If you are going to do it in the oven do not add water to the trayJust spray it with a little oil. If you need its flavor to soften much more, you can make some transverse openings and add a few slices of lemon.
- Prepare or add suitable sauces or garnishes to accompany the fish. Some fish, if you coat them in flour and egg, also give it a special flavor.
- Do not put fish in the puree and with all the ingredients, it may totally change its flavor and that makes you not like it. But you can do it in another way. Puree as usual and later incorporates a few pieces so that it only accompanies it. Or you can put the shredded fish on a plate and let him eat it at his own pace, so you make sure that he takes the first course and then he intends to eat the second.
Use it as a companion for other dishes
Always display can be camouflaged so that it can be taken without exception. It is not about hiding it completely either, but rather making it clear that it can be part of any regular recipe so that it can be assimilated into the diet.
- You can put it as an accompaniment to any dish.
- Use it as filling in dumplings. like our tuna patties.
- In the preparation of croquettes, you can also include this ingredient. Saute it first in a pan and then add it to the filling. You can see our Extra creamy cod croquettes.
- You can also do stuffed with bechamel for doughs such as puff pastries, vol-au-vents, cannelloni or fillings for lasagna.
- If you like cold dishes at home, you can also include it in salads or in salad-based recipes. You can boil it and then crumble it into small pieces.
- And if you don't want to accompany it in other dishes, you can also season it with aromatic herbs to accompany it in flavor. Some tricks that we can suggest are: in a pan with water add the fish, along with a carrot, chopped onion, some bay leaves and parsley. When it has boiled you can leave it in the water and then use it in small pieces. Another idea is that with this same fish you can mash it with a fork and a boiled potato.
As a final piece of information, we will give you some tips for its consumption. if you care the anisakis theme, you can freeze it at least 5 days and at -20°, but only as a safety for the preparation of raw dishes. As long as it is going to be cooked, it is not necessary to freeze it, but there are people who prefer to do both treatments. To be sure you have to cook it at more than 80 °. If the concern lies in the mercury composition, the usual thing is to eat fish 3 to 4 times a week, combining blue and white fish.