How to Cook Fish
A Chart

This chart shows how to cook fish and was condensed from several sources - some with conflicting information - but this compilation gels with my experience.

Fish commonly have "nicknames" so if your fish isn't on this chart, you should know that fish with a white flesh tends to be lean. The darker it is, the more oily. The oilier a fish is, the more it might need an acid, like wine, lemon, lime, or vinegar to mask the stronger taste. Marinades? Check these out. Or, if you need a sauce for the fish, click here.

If you have a piece of white fish that isn't on the chart, use the pike column, if it is darker, red, or pink - it's oily - use the salmon. The oilier fish benefit from broiling, poaching, barbequing, or smoking.

By this reckoning, tilapia and halibut - which are white - are lean, and the taste is mild, so cook it using the "pike" column. For very small fish such as bluegills, crappies and small perch, it is sufficient to say that they do well with pan frying.

In general, it's easier to remove tiny bones from fillets than from fish steaks because they are better exposed. Tweezers work well for removing those tiny fish bones. For outdoor grilling, however, the fish steaks really hold up well when being turned.