PAN FRIED SWORDFISH

INGREDIENTS

Approximately 200g / 7oz swordfish steak

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

Lemon juice from half a lemon

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper lightly sprinkled on swordfish steak

PREPARATION

Finely chop the parsley.

Squeeze the lemon juice.

Pat dry the swordfish with kitchen towel then brush with a little of the oil on both sides.

Lightly sprinkle the fish with salt and pepper.

Warm the serving plates.

ADVICE FOR PAN FRIED SWORDFISH

Swordfish is a chunky white fish which can be cooked in a variety of ways. Pan frying it with a simple parsley and lemon sauce allows the delicious taste of the swordfish to take centre stage. This recipe is suitable for any thick white fish steak and great for tuna steak as well.

The main area of concern with cooking swordfish is how long to cook it for. Good swordfish should be cooked through so that the flesh is flaky throughout. The danger is that the flesh turns mushy and this is very easy to do if over cooked. Our timing is based on a pan which is pre-heated to a medium high heat (with oil in it) for a minute and a half before starting to cook the swordfish.

The next concern with pan-frying swordfish is the thickness of the fish. We have used fish that is about 2.5cm / 1 in thick. If your fish is thicker, then cook for slightly longer, if thinner (for example the end piece) then cook for slightly less.

The final point to consider is the oil used. Extra virgin olive oil can burn if cooked on a high heat so is not the best choice for this recipe. Either use normal olive oil or a vegetable oil which does not burn so easily.

The recipe instructions below describe how to cook pan fried swordfish perfectly. If you want to see a video of me cooking it real time then view the video below. Note that a couple of times during the video I refer to it as grilled swordfish but that was a slip of tongue as the video clearly shows the swordfish being fried in a pan.

Pan frying Swordfish

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1

Place the frying pan on a medium high heat and add the oil. Let the pan heat for 90 seconds.

Uncooked swordfish

Add the swordfish to the pan and fry for four minutes. Turn the swordfish over and cook for a further three minutes. Remove from the pan and place on the pre-heated plates.

STEP 2

Pour out any oil from the frying pan and add the butter. Let it melt on a medium high heat.

Frying swordfish

Remove the pan from the heat add the parsley and lemon juice and mix well. Immediately pour the sauce over the fish and serve.