The fresh fish counter at our local supermarket is getting more depleted by the day, so I’ve been hitting the freezer section. Do you need to treat frozen seafood differently?
Tom, Wolverhampton
That bare counter indicates how hard our fishing industry has been hit – in some sectors, prices are down by 80%, making it unviable to head out to sea – but a surprising amount of supermarket fish has been frozen and defrosted, anyway, so always read the small print on those little plastic tags. For Karan Gokani, director of Hoppers in London, specialists in south Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine, the main concern with frozen seafood is its quality. “There’s a niggle in our minds that it’s second rate, but you can get fantastic products these days, and it’s undeniably useful when it’s hard to buy fresh.”
He’s not wrong there, but even so, an unnaturally uniform frozen cod portion is never going to compare with a prime fillet, so, yes, you do have to use it slightly differently. “Frozen is especially useful in fish cakes, pies and curries – anything that’s a bit forgiving,” Gokani says. “It also benefits from being paired with strong flavours. Obviously, don’t cook from frozen – defrost it fully first.” Try telling that to my mother: one of her signature dishes is frozen white fish baked on a base of onion, garlic, peppers and tomato until it’s no longer crunchy, and the memory sends me all Prousty.
Rick Toogood of Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow and London agrees that punchy flavours are the way to go. “Frozen fish isn’t my specialist subject, but there’s a time and a place for everything. Jazz up fish pie mix, say, by poaching it in milk until just underdone, add a spoonful of Thai green curry or madras curry paste – for me that means Patak’s – top with a coriander mash and bake. The topping doesn’t have to be spuds, either: swede would work brilliantly here.” Add oomph to your fishcakes, too: “Poach the fish in milk, cook potatoes in the same milk, mash with dill, gherkins, mustard and lemon zest, combine with the fish, then breadcrumb and cook until golden.”
Frozen shellfish also benefits from robust accompaniments – prawns especially. “Coat in desiccated coconut, deep-fry and serve with sweet chilli sauce for quick coconut prawns,” Toogood advises. “Or give big ones the ceviche treatment – red onion, chilli, tomato, lime juice and salt.” As for those bags of mixed frozen mussels, squid and prawns, they’re ideal in a cheat’s bouillabaisse, he says, and if you have a frozen fillet to add to the pot, so much the better: “Soften onion and garlic with some thyme, add white wine, saffron, if you have it, a tin of tomatoes, season and cook down, then add the seafood and cook through.”
Frozen white fish is also fantastic burger material, Toogood says: “You can’t go wrong with a breaded fillet packed in a bun with lettuce, slaw, gherkin and lime pickle mixed with mayo – which is genius stuff, by the way.” Or smear wholegrain mustard on a frozen fillet, wrap in foil and bake. “That’s so, so simple, and mega-tasty.”
So much for this not being Toogood’s specialist subject … though he does fail to mention the finest frozen fish product of all: fish fingers – served, of course, in white bread with an obligatory dollop of salad cream. Naysayers can talk to the hand.
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