How to Perfectly Pan Sear Fish

Coley's Key Takeaways

+ A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is highly recommended for the job.
+ Heat the pan on high and use a little olive oil.
+ If you're using a fish with skin, place the skin side down first.

Optional: pre-score the skin to prevent curling, but you can remedy this by gently pressing down on piece with a fish spatula.

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Lemon Herb & Caper Pan Sauce Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients
5 tablespoons cold butter
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1 lemon, juiced

Instructions

1) After the removing the fish from the pan, reduce heat to medium.

2) Add butter to pan, allow it to melt. Then add thyme (stand back! They may pop!) and capers. Quickly stir for 15-20 seconds to mix.

3) Add lemon juice to sauce and turn off heat. Pour sauce over the fish and serve immediately.

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Check out our other helpful cooking how-to's:

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[MysticFogGarden]

Olive oil has a low smoke point, use clarified butter, its smoke point is 485 degrees. french has something over Italians in this case.

[ARCSTREAMS]

that sauce you did in the end is exactly what i came up with as well lol instead of just butter and lemon juice for the meunier sauce(french) i add some cappers and perhaps even a bit of salt just to give it that briny zip ying yang that i find works well with the lemon and butter, nice to see someone doing it too unfortunately my family dont like cappers much but i love em in almost anything i can put em in

[trentcarr]

Wonderful, I just did this with Red Snapper and it turned out AMAZING!

[MatthiasLenardt]

Wonderful recipe. Thank you so much. 👋🏼

[oxst]

one minute fifty eight seconds...perfect. Wish more people would do this and not twenty minutes bla bla bla...just get to the point people

[simplecookingwithjobay]

I like fish, so i like pan seared fish fillet..its so delicious and less oil...

[UniTrumpetMom]

Great guidance tonight for cooking a Barramundi filet (skin on, tail piece). One problem: finishing with the skin up we had trouble checking if the fish was done -- we took it off the heat too soon. Next time we'll use a temperature probe -- but if so, what is the target temperature at which to remove the fish from the pan?

[larrypresnall]

Beautiful fish fillet and beautiful lady! Well done!

[pkbtpiccolo]

i learned how to cook fish and watched a beautiful face at the same time, this is awsome

[Elconbrioso]

Thanks for this demonstration - I would like to try barramundi, don't get it in the UK .

[noirrevolv]

Those sizzle and pop kind of moments, I am ok with it getting into my arms and so on, one time I was unlucky and it got straight to my eyeball, damn it took really look to recover back then. But still, outcome of food was great! So the pain was worth it I guess? 😅

[mistergrendel]

I just recently found your channel and it is great! I commonly prepare Ahi Tuna in my grill skillet and it turns out great.
I’d like to try Catfish nuggets in the cast iron skillet. Perhaps a video?
😜🤔

[knowledgegizmo]

Perfect! Whenever i try to pan sear fish it comes out in pieces 😭😭

[mr.reesmusic]

I recommend putting the lemon in once you've poured your sauce over top. This is more beneficial to your health and cast iron.

[markspc]

Extra virgin olive oil smoke point is 374 °F. However, heating the olive oil until it stars to smoke changes the chemical composition of the oil and it becomes unhealthy.
Always use clarified butter for frying. Clarified butter smoke point is 482 °F. Added bonus is that clarified butter is healthier than all frying oils and greases.

[KKC]

Hi guys, what’s the reason that my fish skin stick completely on the pan? Is it because it is too wet?

[stevendreifach]

A glove is suggested when using cast iron pans.

[PixelVermont]

what kind of fish did you use, I cannot understand, austral something or other ?

[austntexan]

cooked some fish tonight before I saw your video. Using a stainless All-Clad style pan and coconut oil. Set my head on about 3-4, oil was nice and hot but it stuck to the pan and even burned. Could it be not enough oil or maybe I didn't pat it dry enough before placing in the pan?

[ARCSTREAMS]

what were the greens on the plate? they look like some kind of skinny broccoli