Making Contact

• Frying is very fast compared to most other cooking methods, because of how it conveys heat to the food. Part of that heat transfer comes through direct contact, as your fish or other food rests in the skillet. Direct contact with hot metal conducts heat very efficiently, as generations of burnt fingers can attest. The remainder of the heat is transferred by your cooking fat, which doesn't work as well as hot metal but is still much more effective than hot air or water. This intense heat creates browning, which brings out the flavors in your food, but it can also have some less-desirable effects.

Avoiding the Heat

• Steaks and chops stand up nicely to pan-frying, because the meat of terrestrial animals is bound together by long muscle fibers and tendons. Fish is less durable, with muscles arranged in layers or flakes of relatively short fibers without strong connective tissues. When you cook fish directly on the hot surface of a skillet, the short strands of muscle proteins have a distinct tendency to contract and toughen. Fish is also prone to sticking in the pan, even a well-oiled pan, which makes it difficult to turn without breaking. These shortcomings can be countered by coating the fish lightly in flour.

The Basic Technique

• Fresh fish is ordinarily slightly moist to the touch. If you dredge it in plain or lightly seasoned flour then shake off the excess, that moisture will cause flour to adhere to your fish portions. When you fry the fish, it's the flour that will make contact with the hot pan and hot oil, rather than the surface of the fish itself. The starches and proteins in the flour brown readily, giving the fish a golden color and pleasantly toasty flavor, as well as a lightly crisp texture. Even better, the flour helps keep the fish from sticking to the pan. The light coating also lends the fish a modest degree of additional strength, helping keep it together when you turn it in the pan.

A Few Refinements

• If you like your fish crispy, or if it's especially delicate and needs stronger protection, double-dredge the fish. Dip it in flour, then in milk, and then again in flour. This provides a thicker coating. You might also add crunch and texture by substituting corn flour or fine cornmeal for the second layer, or by using breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs. These thicker coatings add a few more calories and grams of carbohydrates, but the added texture and flavor are often worth the difference.