For people like me who don’t go out marketing every morning, frozen dory fillets are heaven sent!
They keep forever (okay, about 3 months) and the best thing is that I don’t have to plan a fish eating schedule as I can literally pop them out whenever I feel like having some seafood.
# – Frozen dory fillets for the win!
Contrary to belief, they also taste really good, as long as you cook them properly. It helps a lot though if you bought high quality frozen dory fillets to begin with.
I tend to buy fillets that are not frozen stuck together. I bought mine from either Tesco, Jaya Grocer or Cold Storage and they usually cost between RM10-RM12 for 3 large pieces in a packet. Each bag is about 700-800 grams frozen.
Of course, I’m going to show you how to cook them properly ;)
Ingredients:
- Flour
- Frozen dory fillets, thawed completely
- Salt & pepper
- Ground black pepper
- Lime or lemon juice
# – First, make sure the frozen dory fillets are thawed completely. It’s best to leave it in the fridge overnight if you want to eat it the day before. Or, take it out half an hour before you plan to eat and nuke it in the microwave like I did. They thaw beautifully, don’t you think?
# – Use kitchen towels to dab the fillets till as dry as possible. Don’t be afraid to use some slight pressure to press the moisture out. When only light blotches of water stain the kitchen towels, the fillets are dry enough. Ideally, you can make them bone dry but that won’t be so fun now, would it?
# – Season both sides of each fillet with salt evenly. Don’t be too heavy handed!
# – Followed by a sprinkling of pepper on both sides.
# – Now, throw in a few spoons of flour to coat the fish.
# – Make sure the fillets are properly coated. You can hold them up and lightly tap them to remove excess flour.
# – Give them a sprinkling of ground black pepper. Set aside.
# – Now grease a griddle evenly with oil and heat it up.
# – When the griddle is hot, put the fillets in on one side. Cook for about 3 minutes if the fillets are thick. Lessen time if fillets are thin.
# – Flip them over to cook the other side. Remove from griddle and set them on your plates.
# – With the same griddle on low heat, pour in a bit of oil (alright, you can also use butter which is actually way tastier!). Use a wooden spatula and scrap of the bits and bobs off the griddle.
# – Then pour in lime or lemon juice. About 4 tablespoons for one fillet. Mix it up with the oil and the bits and bobs :D
# – Pour the citrus oil all over the cooked fillet.
# – Serve it with a side of potato salad.
# – Delicious pan fried dory with citrus oil, DONE!
# – As you can see, the fillet is still flaky and moist. It is delicious!!
I use the same method to prepare the fish for chinese stir fries too, except I cut the fillets into cubes prior to flouring. I think the flour keeps the fillets in shape.
I won’t go as far as saying it’s comparable to fresh fish but for a frozen fish, this is as good as it gets!
griddle! omg u really have my dream kitchen -_-“
haha my griddle from Ikea for less than RM70 only! :D
thats a grill pan, not a griddle ;-p
Frozen fish is great. Many top restaurants that focus on quality buy frozen fish – if its clean and frozen immediately after being caught its pretty good. Your first sentence made me smile, when you say ‘marketing’. Where I come from marketing means going to the market to shop whereas to others marketing means something else:)
i know what you mean….i find myself cringing a little whenever i use that word in this context because i used to work as a “marketing manager” for a company selling cars. hahaha
Oh! I love this stuff as well! It’s very versatile, we keep at least a pack in the fridge, there’s a 1 for 1 promotion at CF in TCM right now (damn I sound domesticated). We use store brand and First Choice, alternate it.
The store brand contains 50% fish and 50% binders but it’s really cheap. :)
It looks delicious!
oooh thanks for the tip huai bin, am going to check it out! I love the First Choice brand!
eh, i got the same Ikea griddle~ *grins*
yup, frozen dory actually tastes good if properly prepared..plus, quite cheap too! i like to use dory fillets for making fish fingers..dory fillets rock!
i absolutely love the griddle! it grills amazingly well for something that’s under RM70 haha. thanks for the idea of making fish fingers, my BF loves them now I should consider making them myself
looks like it’s time to invest in a griddle!
It’s good, I love griddle lines! Haha
Great tips! Fish is easy to cook, but also it can be messed up really easily.
Thanks ben, I totally agree with you!
This is really yums, moist and tender with a slightly crispy crust. The taste is really set off by the lemon juice.
Glad u like em ;)
I’m crazy about grilled fish! This recipe looks simple and oh so yummy! Thanks for the pics too Kimberly :)
no prob! glad to share :D
Simple and nice….yum yum!
Nice tips. I just taken up interests in cooking “dory” fish. Do you really need to add flour? I miss this step. I have reservations about eating “dory” fish.. where does this fish come from and what type of fish any idea? The dory fish appears tasteless too.
I also tried same approach with other “market fishes” but the fishy smells really puts me off.
actually i’ve tried making it without flour, turned out well too. the flour only crispened the fish a little bit more :)
um, the lemon juice, where can i get them?!
they’re called Real Lemons or something, can find in condiment section at Tesco, Cold Storage, Jaya Grocer and decent supermarkets! cheers.
Just stumble on your blog while looking for simple ways of cooking dory fish.
Looking forward to cooking it this evening according to your sharing.
Hmmm… simply yummmiiiii n healthy :)
Thank you for sharing…
Thanks !
Really help a guy like me who store a lot frozen stuffs, and cook a little
Tq, magnifique :)
how do you remove the “sand” taste from the fish ?
can you make chicken breast with something good and please not too much sauce thanks
Wow, it looks so tasty yet simple to prepare. Thanks!
The “dory” fish is actually the Iridescent Shark or Patin farmed in Vietnam. It has nothing to do with the shark though. It’s a type of catfish. Sometimes known as Sutchi fillet when the name dory is not used.
This is amazing. You inspired me to eat Dory tonite !!
never had dory fish before – now that I have moved into my new apartment, I am slowly experimenting some recipes. This recipe seems easy and delicious at the same time. I have an induction cooktop and does the Ikea griddle works on an induction? Any idea? Also what flour do you use to coat the fish? And, I do not have a wooden spatula – may sound like a silly question but I am a beginner, so prefer to ask whatever comes to my mind!
i found Dory :)