Pan Fried Salmon Head with Fermented Black Beans and Garlic 豆豉蒜头香煎三文鱼头

About a week ago, I wrote how to make steamed fish head with fermented black beans 豉汁蒸鱼头. This is a very similar variation on this dish, but adapted for pan frying. This is a tasty variation for how to prepare fish heads for home style cooking. The only thing to do is to make sure you have a decent non-stick pan. It’s pretty delicate, but there’s a lot of gelatin in the head that makes it stick to the pan more easily than most cuts of meat. Since fish heads have a pretty irregular shape, I think the best method of pan frying them will need you to cut it up for more even cooking.

There’s not too much else for me to say about this other than just showing a different way of preparing this. Try it out and decide for yourself if you like this pan fried or steamed. Of course you can try this with other types of fish heads too. The only difference is adjusting the amount of cornstarch. You need a little more for pan frying to make the seasoned coating thicker than for steaming. Just don’t add so much that there are dry spots of flour even after mixing.

Recipe:

1/2 Salmon head
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp 豆豉 fermented black beans
About 1 /2 tsp soy sauce
About 3/4 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Pinch of chicken bouillon (optional)
About 2 tsp cornstarch
Neutral oil
Green onions, thinly sliced (optional, garnish)

Rinse the salmon head under cold water and using your hands to gently rub all surfaces of it. This helps remove some of the oxidized fat that makes the fishy smell. Cut into pieces and set aside.

Soak the 豆豉 fermented black beans in a few minute and rinse. Lightly crush or coarsely chop and set aside in a bowl. Peel and lightly crush the garlic cloves and roughly chop them. Add them to the bow as well.

In the bowl with 豆豉 fermented black beans and garlic, add the soy sauce, sugar, salt, chicken bouillon (optional), cornstarch, and a drizzle of neutral oil. Mix to combine.

Meanwhile, take the 豆豉 fermented black beans and garlic mixture and rub it all over the pieces of fish head. You may need to adjust the amount of corn starch added to this depending on how much surface are you are covering. It’s difficult to explain over words, but you don’t want the seasoned mixture to be runny or dry. You want it sticky and a little bit thick so it won’t drip off when pan frying.

In a non-stick skillet, heat it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add some neutral oil to it and add the pieces in bunches with one hand. Don’t dump the pieces of fish heads directly in the pan. At the start of cooking, it will stick to the bottom. Treat it like a steak. Sear both sides and only flip it when it’s ready to be flipped.

As soon as you place all the pieces of salmon head in the pan, reduce the heat to about medium, medium-low. Wait for about 4 minutes or until it is seared on one side and will come off easily. Flip and cook for about another 3 minutes, until done.

To tell how close it is done, look at any thick meaty parts. When the “doneness” travels half way up the thickest piece of meat, it should be ready to be flipped and by this point it’s a little more than half way done cooking.

Enjoy immediately and this is best eaten in the same meal.