How to serve a fish filet: skin up or down?
I've seen filets served both ways. I personally feel that fish - especially trout - should be served skin down. I want to use a fork to pick the flesh away unimpeded.
But I've seen Jaime Oliver and one of my favorite restaurants in DC (Le Diplomat) serve trout skin side up.
Is there a best practice here?
Best Answer
I think it depends on which fish, and the way it's cooked. If it's steamed,poached, or en papillote, fish skin can be quite unappealing to some diners, and, as you say, the conventional way to eat the fish would be to lift the flesh from the skin, especially if at the same time you are parting the flesh from the bones.
But if it's an oilier or meatier fish, pan-fried or grilled, the skin can be deliberately crisped, in which case it's intended to be eaten. (This, again, is much easier to eat if the fish has been filleted from the bone before cooking.) In that case, it is sometimes more attractive, and keeps the skin crisper, to serve it skin-side up.
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Do you roast fish skin side up or down?
Drizzle fish with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a rimmed baking sheet, skin side down if you've left the skin on. Roast fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, until the fish is opaque and tender when pierced with a fork but before it starts to flake.When cooking fish what side goes down first?
To saute or grill the fish, cook it with the flesh side down for one to two minutes, then turn it over and finish cooking it with the skin down. This will allow the flesh to shrink, which will prevent the skin from curling.Should you fry fish skin side down first?
Put the fish in skin side first and after a minute or so turn down the heat a little so that the skin doesn't burn. Keep watching the heat and turning it up or down as needed to keep the fish sizzling gently. When the skin is crisp it will release easily from the pan, so don't try to move the fillets too soon.How To Fillet Every Fish | Method Mastery | Epicurious
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Answer 2
In a restaurant setting:
I think the best practice is that if the skin is nicely crispy and meant to be eaten, then it should be plated to show it.
If the skin is not meant to be eaten, then it should be removed before plating.
If the skin is unappealing, then it should be removed before plating
At home, do whatever you want to do.
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Images: Marianna, Ryutaro Tsukata, Ivan Samkov, Bulat Khamitov