Monkfish Recipe - Catalan Monkfish with Roasted Garlic Sauce (2024)

FAQs

How is monkfish best cooked? ›

Monkfish fillets can be pan-fried or roasted to give the fillets colour. An average-sized monkfish fillet (around 100g) will take around 5–6 minutes. Monkfish suits being grilled or barbecued because the robust flesh doesn't fall apart easily.

Monkfish is generally available all year round. Monkfish can grow large, to over 12kg in size, with the head normally being over 50% of the total weight. The head provides Monkfish cheeks which is deemed as a delicacy across most of Europe.

Other than cooking, it's also important to know when Monkfish is done so that you can pull it off the grill or pan before you overcook it and potentially ruin the flavor. Monkfish gets very rubbery when overcooked, making it hard to chew and enjoy. When monkfish is done, it should be firm and a little springy.

Remove any pink or grey-colored film on fillets or whole fish then rinse in cold water before cooking. Monkfish tend to be lean and will shrink once cooked. Salt or brine your fish for about an hour to keep the fish moist.

Sprinkle the monkfish fillets with salt and pepper on both sides. You won't need to oil the flesh prior, it will stick to the flesh; Pan sear: Heat oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat (or medium heat if your stove is strong). Place the thickest pieces of fish into the pan first.

Preparing Monkfish

It will curl up and turn rubbery, making it hard to cook. And as lean meat, monkfish would dry out if overcooked in heat.

Tomato is a favourite pairing with white fish, and monkfish is no exception. Shaun Hill rests monkfish atop a flavourful bed of sauce in his Monkfish recipe with tomato, ginger and garlic, while a tomato-based sauce envelops the fish in Alfred Prasad's sumptuous Monkfish curry.

Monkfish meat is a healthy option, especially if you are trying to manage your weight. That's because monkfish has low levels of sodium and calories. A serving of 6 ounces of cooked monkfish only has 110 calories. However, despite being low in calories, this meat contains high cholesterol levels.

Monkfish is firm when cooked, but it can easily stick, so it needs careful handling. Gently press the thickest part of the fillet with a knife and see if the flesh will break into flakes. You can cut it carefully and check if it is opaque throughout, too.

Larvae of the Anisakis worm can be carried by raw or undercooked marine fish and squid. Some examples include cod, flounder, fluke, haddock, herring, monkfish, and Pacific salmon.

How to not overcook monkfish? ›

You can flip the fish one more time to make sure it is cooking evenly throughout. Overcooking the fish is easy and will make it very tough to eat and hard to chew. Make sure you are watching the clock and take it off the grill as soon as it's done. Put the Monkfish onto a plate and pour the remaining marinade over it.

If you buy monkfish fillets it wil already have been skinned, cleaned and prepared ready for cooking. However if you buy the whole tails preparing monkfish is relatively straightforward. It's essential to remove the thin membrane covering the fillets before cooking.

Simply grasp onto the skin and pull it straight back to remove it. Trim off the tail and fins with scissors. Remove the membrane. Peel off the thin membrane encasing the monkfish by grasping onto one end and pulling straight back.

Before cooking, soak the fish in milk for 20 minutes

In this scenario, the protein in the milk binds with the compounds that cause that fishy odor, in essence extracting if from the fish. What's left behind is sweet-smelling, brighter flesh with clean flavor. (Just make sure you pour that milk down the drain.

Monkfish needs to reach an internal temperature of 145°F, but to account for carryover cooking, you'll want to pull it from the oven before then — it'll finish cooking as it rests, in the few minutes it takes to reduce the pan juices with the tomato sauce.

Monkfish is known for its tight, meaty white flesh that is often compared to lobster meat. It's not only similar to lobster in texture, but also in flavor. It has a mild, sweet flavor without a trace of fishiness.

Your monkfish may be chewy or rubbery due to overcooking. The coveted meaty texture of this fish is specifically a bit more fickle to deal with than other fish. Much like an overcooked steak, this fish can become texturally unfavorable as it cooks for longer than required.

Monkfish tastes like other types of groundfish like cod or pollock but it is a bit heartier in flavor and firmer in texture so you can even try substituting monkfish for chicken in some recipes! Monkfish contains magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, Vitamin A, and niacin.