Fish is one of the healthiest foods, and it is loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, high-quality proteins, and vitamin D. Moreover, fish has a different nutrition profile that is divided into two parts: fatty and lean. Both of them are significant for the body, but fatty fish are more nutritious than lean fish. Eating seafood like fish regularly lowers the risk of different diseases such as depression, heart disease, and stroke. The health professional recommends that people should eat fish at least two times a week. There are several ways to cook the healthiest fish diet, but the cooking method can change its nutritional composition. Therefore, try to prepare it in a way that maintains its nutritional value. In this blog, you will learn the healthiest way to cook fish and how different methods can change the nutritional value of fish.
1) Steaming
Steaming is one of the healthy fish recipes, and it offers different benefits. To steam fish, you need to have steaming equipment that holds the fish and allows it to steam. You can also use a steamer basket with a pot of boiling water. In this way, this salt will drop off during steaming. The best thing about steaming is it is the healthiest way to cook fish because this method will retain the most nutrients. You need six to fifteen minutes in the steaming of fish fillet usually depending upon the type of fish.
2) Broiling and Grilling
Broiling and grilling are similar methods and ideal ways to cook the healthiest fish. Both involve applying dry heat to fish at very high temperatures. The basic difference is broiling applies heat from above, and grilling applies heat from below. If you want to consider a healthy fish recipe, you should choose grilling or broiling. These are ideal ways to cook tasty fish without adding fats. However, both methods cause the formation of harmful elements known as heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These compounds form when muscle tissue from fish is heated to high temperature over an open flame. However, the risks are high in the case of meat as compared to fish. If you want to reduce exposure to these elements, avoid cooking on an open flame. You can also reduce the formation of PAHs and HAs in fish by applying marinade before grilling.
3) Poaching
Poaching is the healthiest way to cook fish in a simmering liquid, and it is the most effective serving with yellowfin tuna, Pacific halibut, and lake trout. Poaching involves submerging the fish in a liquid such as milk, water, or stock while cooking in the oven. The nutritional value of fish in this method highly depends upon the liquid. You can use garlic, herb, and onion to cook the fish in this method. However, poaching is considered healthy because it can be cooked at a low temperature.
4) Deep Frying and Pan-Frying
Pan-frying and deep frying are the best methods for those who want to know how to cook fish healthily. Pan-frying uses a smaller amount of fat in a wok or pot. On the other hand, deep frying involves submerging fish in a large amount of fat. During frying, fish absorbs fat which increases the calorie content by changing the original fat types. When you cook fish in oil that contains omega-6 fatty acids, it increases the inflammatory omega-6s in its content. This phenomenon takes place in deep-fried rather than pan-fried fish. Some studies found that frying will decrease the amount of omega-3 fatty acids by 70-80%. Some other studies suggest that deep-frying fish will reduce the amount of vitamin D. Therefore, pan-frying is considered the healthiest way to cook fish than deep frying.
5) Baking
Baking is a dry heat way that uses an oven to prepare a healthy baked fish. It has been suggested that baking fish causes less loss of nutrition than microwaving and frying. Moreover, it’s the ideal way to retail the vitamin D content of fish. Some studies have found that fried salmon fish lost around 50% of vitamin, whereas baked fish retained all its vitamin D. Therefore, oven baking is the best way to cook the healthiest fish. You can use herbs or slices of lime or lemon by arranging them on the fillet on a baking sheet with parchment paper for decoration.
6) Microwaving
Microwave ovens use energy waves for cooking food. These waves interact with food molecules causing them to vibrate. Some people don’t consider it ideal for healthy recipes for fish because microwaving can reduce the food nutrients. However, the use of the microwave to cook fish is a low-temperature and fast cooking method as compared to other recipes. In this method, fish can preserve its omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, when you cook fish at a relatively low temperature, there are fewer chances of harmful compound formation as compared to other methods.
Final Talk
Fish is a healthy food, and numerous methods will guide you about how to cook the healthiest fish. The cooking method and type of fish can affect the overall nutrition profile of your fish. All fish have different nutrition, so you should use the healthiest oil to cook fish to retain its nutritional contents. When you choose a healthy way to cook fish, it will also minimize the formation of harmful elements. We have covered several ways to cook the healthiest fish. We hope that these cooking methods can be a delight to your dining table.
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