What's the secret to cooking with frozen seafood?

The Guardian

25-03-2025

What's the best way to cook frozen seafood, and do you have to treat it differently from fresh?As with most things in life, preparation is key. 'It's all about how you defrost it,' says Emily Scott, author of Home Shores (out in May). 'Frozen seafood, for example, should be thawed overnight or in a plastic bag under running water.' Fish destined to be fried, meanwhile, is best removed from its packaging and left on a rack in the fridge overnight, advises Rick Toogood of Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow and London. 'You don't want it sitting in the liquid that comes out of it, because you won't get a nice bit of colour on a piece of soggy fish.' Patting it down with kitchen roll before frying will also help with that, he adds.
Once defrosted, it's not only about frying, says Ed McIlroy, one half of Four Legs, the chef duo behind Tollington's fish bar in north London, who recommends poaching white fish fillets in 50:50 water and butter. 'With frozen fish, you're not trying to make anything too crisp– you're just cooking it through.' It would then welcome a side of lightly braised spring greens: 'Get a little sofrito going, add a bit of fish stock, maybe some white wine, if there's a bottle open, and get your greens in there.'
Meanwhile, you'll probably find Scott tucking into her defrosted white fish en papillote (in paper). 'That's a really good way to cook it, perhaps with white beans, white wine, butter, herbs [chives, dill, maybe tarragon], sea salt, lots of lemon and a good glug of olive oil,' she says. Then you simply wrap it up into a parcel and pop it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Punchy flavours are another good idea with frozen seafood, which is why Toogood often goes for curries or tomato-based stews. Frozen prawns, however, tend to be destined for noodle soups: 'Fry some veg, such as tenderstem broccoli, then add noodles and stock. Chuck in a handful of prawns at the end, then spruce it up with chilli, coriander and spring onion.'
Defrosted mussels, by contrast, are worth steaming and chopping to stir through gribiche, McIlroy says, but Scott warns they can 'lose their flavour' by being frozen. That's why, if fresh mussels aren't an option, she tends to seek out tinned ones instead: 'They're lovely on toast with avocado.'
A bag of frozen fish pie mix is also a boon. Toogood puts his to work in fishcakes: 'Roast the defrosted fish with herbs and some seasoning until cooked through, then flake it into mashed potato with a load of fresh parsley, or massaman curry paste or lime pickle.' Shape that into patties, then flour, egg and breadcrumb them, and shallow-fry until golden. 'Fish pie mix is also great in shakshuka or in a tomato- or white sauce-based stew,' Scott says. Or try it in her simple take on fish pie, which involves mixing the defrosted pie mix with creme fraiche, mustard and herbs, putting that in an ovenproof dish, topping with sliced new potatoes and baking.
And let's not forget the great unifier, fish fingers. Happily, Toogood says, they really don't need much messing with: 'Just a good spoon of crispy chilli oil, plus some chips and peas, and you can't go far wrong.' You'll find no arguments here.
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