How to Cook Fish Perfectly With the 10-Minute Rule
What is the 10-Minute Rule?
The rule 10-Minute Rule or Canadian Cooking Method is simple: cook fish for 10-minutes per inch of thickness. Then, flip the fish only once, halfway through the cooking time.
Whether you plan to follow a recipe or not, start by measure the thickest part of the fish with a clean ruler. If you are making stuffed or rolled fish, wait to measure it until after you’ve finished preparing it.
Once you have measured the thickness of the fish, use that to calculate how long to cook it. For example, if a fish fillet is ½ inch thick, cook it for 5-minutes—turning it over after 2 ½ minutes and cooking it for another 2 ½ minutes. Or, if the thickest part of a fish steak is 1 1/2 inch thick, cook it for 15-minutes —turning it over after 7 ½ minutes and cooking it for another 7 ½ minutes.
No matter what the recipe you are following says, base your cooking time off the thickness of the fish you are cooking! Otherwise, your fish may turn out undercooked or overcooked since the thickness of fish varies widely from fish to fish.
The second part of the Rule—only flipping the fish once—is as important as the cooking time. Since fish is more delicate than other meats, it can fall apart if you turn it frequently. Another benefit of only turning it once is that you will get a nice sear, resulting in fish that is mouthwateringly delicious!