Making Friends with Seafood
10 of the best items to pair with Fish
1. Blood Oranges - Basically an amped-up orange with more bite, power, and color; blood orange juice is a perfect way to accent the natural sweetness of fish and cut through some of that velvety rich flavor.
How to incorporate: freshly juiced post cooking
2. Lemon Zest - The outermost part of a lemon rind, this is high-quality perfume for your fish. Add zest atop a piece of grilled, roasted, or poached seafood -- simple and all too satisfying.
How to incorporate: freshly zested at the table
3. Potato Chips - Texture is often lost when it comes to fish. There is no better way to add crunch and flavor than by encrusting a piece of fish with a handful of crushed potato chips. Ideally, you can brush mustard on the fish, pack the chips atop of the mustard “glue” and bake away. BBQ works best. Sub Fritos for extra humor.
How to incorporate: crust pre and post cooking
4. Cucumber - One of the freshest flavors in the garden, the cucumber is the perfect match for seafood because it imparts freshness in the form of snap and juice/water. Your fish will be swimming again.
How to incorporate: as a salad or chopped as a salsa with tomato
5. Fish Sauce - It’s all about the Umami. A dash of fish sauce will add a whole new layer of rich umami flavor to your fish without the msg. A tablespoon of fish sauce in the pan or accompanying sauce is enough.
How to incorporate: add a dash in the sauce or in the pan post-cooking
6. Tarragon - Licorice for fish lovers, tarragon is pure herb. Add some lightly chopped herb at the last minute to your seafood for an extra dimension.
How to incorporate: add to the sauce, pan, or directly to fish post cooking
7. Zucchini - Seafood loves zucchini. The simple and vegetal flavor balances perfectly with the modest flavor of fish. Together they balance on the palette. Glued together with a little citrus, zucchini and seafood present perfection.
How to incorporate: lightly sauce or shred raw onto or under fish
8. Green Apple - While people think of an apple as being sweet, it is actually incredibly tart. This tartness balances with the sweet and sometimes rich flavor of seafood. In addition, the texture pops on the palette by adding a fresh crisp bite.
How to incorporate: cut into match-sticks, toss with lemon and top tilapia
9. Prosciutto - Salty and rich like the ocean, a little bit of pork on seafood never hurts. Prosciutto’s salted elegance plays perfectly with seafood’s milder flavor.
How to incorporate: wrap fish and roast or slice and add to garnish
10. Celery - Most people think of celery as a boring addition to soups and stocks, but in reality, celery is packed with flavor and aroma. Paired with seafood, celery accentuates the flavor of the sea and seafood. It’s best to cook celery in the same vessel as the fish to achieve maximum flavor.
How to incorporate: roast fish on large pieces of celery, and serve together