Category guide
Seafood
recipes.
Seafood is the cuisine of the timer. Most fish go from raw to perfectly cooked in 6–8 minutes, and from perfectly cooked to dry and tight in 60 seconds more. Shellfish — shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams — are even faster: 2–3 minutes total. The discipline is restraint: salt early but not too early, cook over moderately high heat, and pull from the pan or the oven before you think it's done — carryover finishes the cook. Buy fresh, buy in season, and don't apologise for the simplicity of the dish; a piece of grilled fish with lemon and olive oil is one of the great meals.
Seafood recipes
70 dishes to cook from
How to cook in this category
Three pillars to anchor what you cook.
Whole fish and fillets
Whole fish (sea bass, bream, snapper, mackerel, sardines) grill or roast brilliantly — score the skin, salt the cavity, stuff with lemon and herbs, cook 8–10 minutes per side over medium heat. Fillets (cod, halibut, salmon) want a hot pan, skin-side down, no movement, 4–5 minutes until the skin is crisp, then a brief flip.
Shellfish: shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams
Sear scallops in a screaming-hot pan, dry as paper, in oil + butter — 90 seconds per side, no more. Shrimp peel-on cook in 2–3 minutes total. Mussels and clams steam in white wine + shallot + garlic + butter in 4–5 minutes; discard any that don't open.
The Mediterranean and Asian traditions
Mediterranean: grilled, baked with herbs and lemon, simmered in tomato (cioppino, bouillabaisse). Asian: steamed whole with ginger and scallion (Cantonese), simmered in coconut curry (Thai), raw in sashimi or ceviche. Few cuisines treat seafood badly; the technique varies, the discipline is the same.
Pantry staples
What to keep on hand.
Lemons, limes, capers, olives, anchovies, garlic, parsley, dill, fennel, dry white wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, scallions, white pepper, neutral oil, butter, olive oil, sea salt, whole peppercorns, bay leaves.
You don't need everything at once. Build the pantry as recipes call for it; most of these are shelf-stable and useful across many dishes.
Core techniques
A few moves to learn well.
- Drying fish thoroughly before searing — skin won't crisp on a wet fillet
- Cooking 90% on the skin side, then a brief flip — protects the flesh from drying
- Resting whole fish a few minutes after grilling — flesh firms and the bones release more easily
- Seasoning with salt 10–15 minutes before cooking, no longer — extracts moisture and tightens texture