For Satisfyingly Crispy Skin, Use One Easy Hack To Pan Fry Your Fish

For seafood lovers, a perfectly cooked piece of fish is the pinnacle of culinary bliss, but there are also certain aspects of a restaurant dish that seem intimidating to pull off in the home kitchen. One of those is achieving that professionally prepared, super satisfying crispy skin. By simply purchasing your fish with the skin on, you're already avoiding the mistake everyone makes with fish skin; This exterior layer goes a long way in imparting flavor to your fish, and also keeping its flesh together during the cooking process. But the good new is, it turns out that transforming the skin into that delicious contrasting texture requires only one common pantry item — a piece of parchment paper.

The magic of parchment paper has to do with what it resists: namely, grease and heat. This is significant because fish is liable to stick to the hot pan even when you're cooking with oil, which means it can then tear or fall apart when you attempt to flip it, ruining your beautiful seafood experience before you can even finish the process. With this handy trick, the parchment paper is a kind of barrier between the fish and the direct heat, but it doesn't interfere with the hot oil that will give your swimmer its crispy, delicious skin.

To make this hack work for you, there are a few things that will help. For one, using a paper towel to blot the fish on both sides and soak up any excess moisture, then salting it will promote the crispiest finished product. (You can also season with your choice of other flavors at this point.) In terms of your cooking vessel, a go-to stainless steel skillet is the best move, while nonstick and cast iron are general no-nos.

You want to use a piece of parchment that's bigger than the fish itself, and give yourself a little room to move it around in the pan if necessary. Also, be sure not to confuse wax paper for parchment — the former does not have the same heat-proof qualities. From there, coat the bottom of your pan with oil, lay your portioned piece of parchment on top, and then brush a bit more oil on the surface. Lay your fish skin-side down first, and watch as it develops that restaurant-quality crispiness in just minutes.

There are some big mistakes to avoid when cooking fish — for example, José Andrés says you're missing the best part of grilled fish if you bypass eating the skin. Thanks to this easy parchment paper tip, you never have to worry that your fish won't live up to your seafood hopes and dreams.