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1
Take the fish out of the fridge 10 to 15 minutes before youre ready to cook.
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2
Pat the skin dry with a paper towel and season on both sides with salt.
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3
Coat a large saute pan generously with olive oil and bring it to high heat, almost smoking.
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4
Coat the UNDERNEATH of another smaller saute pan with olive oil.
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5
Place the fish fillets skin side down in the larger pan and gently place the other saute pan directly on top of the fish.
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6
The purpose of this is to gently press the skin of the fish onto the bottom of the larger pan to create a lovely, even, crispy skin.
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7
(The first thing fish skin wants to do is stick to the pan, and the first thing cooks want to do is move it.
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8
Resist the urge; it will unstick itself when its ready.
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9
This is where patience comes inif you try to move it before its ready, the fish skin will win every time.)
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10
After a couple minutes, remove the top saute pan to allow the steam to escape and the skin to get really crispy.
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11
As the fish cooks it turns from translucent to opaquethe idea is to cook the fish two-thirds of the way through on the skin side and then flip it over for the last third of the cooking time.
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12
The rule for fish is 7 to 8 minutes per inch of thickness, a little less if you like your fish on the rare side.
