5 Pro Tips for Cooking Your Fresh Seafood

We love sharing amazing fresh wild salmon, halibut, sablefish, cod and more from the clean, cold waters of the Pacific Northwest in our unique Fresh & Wild program.  These super-fresh fish -- from some of the coolest places on earth -- are among the best seafood you'll ever experience.  So here are our insider tips on how to prepare these Fresh & Wild offerings -- or any fresh fish you may be enjoying -- to experience them at their very finest.

Most Importantly: Go LOW & SLOW! - Most directions tell you to cook at 350 degrees or higher.  This cooks the fish rather fast, can dry it out, and leaves little room for error. We believe the complete opposite -- cook at a much lower temperature, for a longer time.  This results in a moister, more succulent preparation, and since you are going slower, if you do cook it a little bit too long it is much more forgiving.  In the oven, we suggest about 290 - 300 degrees.  Stovetop, keep the flame low.  On the grill, same thing.  You'll have to wait a few more minutes for your feast, but trust us, it'll be worth the wait!

Go Skin Side UP - When grilling or preparing stove top in a pan, if your fish has skin on it, start with the skin side up.  The heat below will pull the natural oils by the skin down through the fillet.  Then when you flip it you can finish it off with the skin side down.

Flip Once and Only Once - When cooking on the grill or in a pan, don't flip more than once.  Let much of the fish cook while skin side up, and then flip to let it finish.  

Remove From Heat Before It's Completely Done - You want to serve your salmon, halibut, sablefish and cod with the larger flakes mostly opaque, with just a little bit of the flake translucent.   Remove the fillet from heat just before it reaches this stage, as the fish will keep cooking even once away from the heat.

Keep It Simple - When you have a great piece of fresh seafood, we highly recommend a simple preparation.  Let the wonderful fish be the hero, rather than covering it up with sauces, coatings, or heavy toppings.  Before cooking, brush both sides with olive oil, and season with sea salt, cracked black pepper (or 4-color pepper), some garlic powder or chopped garlic if you like.  That's it.  When you serve, maybe a pat of unsalted butter to melt on top, and a slice or two of lemon on the side. Simple.

Learn about SeaBear's Fresh & Wild Limited Events HERE.