JOSH Niland has developed the perfect tool to bring your seafood at home to restaurant quality. Introducing the Fish Weight, a 1.6kg stainless steel fish press. The circular shape has a polished finish and sleek handle. Coming in three colours with several designs with imagery from the iconic Saint Peter restaurant. This tool is meant to be seen in the kitchen in between meals, not stowed away and forgotten.
Why purchase a fish weight?
If you want perfectly crispy skinned fish, here is your answer. The Fish Weight doesn’t come into fruition until the back end of the process. Before cooking, it is essential that the skin of the fish is as dry as possible. Hanging your fish in a dry ager is the optimal way, however there are other methods that will get you over the line. Dabbing the fish with a paper towel removes excess moisture. Leaving the fish without cover in a standard refrigerator for an hour can also make a difference. Heavily salting the fish can draw out fluid.
It is important to know that different fish need different treatment. Researching the particular species before trying, trial and error is also effective. For example the skin of a blue mackerel is light and delicate compared to a mulloway that has a thick coating of scales and slime. Regardless if the skin goes onto the pan wet, you have already shot yourself in the foot.
Pre heat the pan. If you place the fillet on the pan in the heating process it will stick to the surface. I use a wrought iron pan or stainless steel, avoid synthetic non stick pans that cannot cope with high heat and leach chemicals. The pan is ready to cook when a splash of water dances around in a panic when flicked onto the hot surface.
If cooking over charcoal or fire, ensure that there is plenty of coals and heat. The Fish Weight comes into play, and is worth its…
When fish is cooked skin down onto high heat, it shinks. If the heat and moisture is not evenly distributed it will lead to bunch of the skin. For example if an edge is not touching the hot plate, it will lack heat compared to the centre. The skin in contact with the highest heat will shrink at a faster rate. Skin bunching creates pockets for moisture to pool and results in soggy patches without a linear texture.
The Josh Niland Fish Weight distributes pressure across the fish, ensuring that there are no cavities between the fish and cooking surface. Heat rises, after the initial stage of cooking it is time to add some quality olive il to the flesh side, place the Fish Weight back on to the fish as it will reflect the heat back into the meat. Reducing the need to flip the fillet.
The Josh Niland Fish Weight is 16cm in diameter. This doesn’t mean that the fish has to be that size or less to be effective. I found placing the Fish Weight in the centre of large fillets shifting it if needed worked perfectly.
The skin acts as a protective layer for the flesh. Cooking skin down will minimise the risk of overdoing you important flesh. I found it much easier to gauge the readiness when cooking with the Fish Weight, as the colour change is more evident through the fillet as opposed to flipping the fillet.
The Josh Niland Fish Weight makes a great gift for a friend or for your own kitchen. With applications out side of seafood, it is not just for fishos but foodies alike.
The Fish Weight retails at $165 with savings on bundles. For more information, visit www.mrniland.com
