How to Cook Fish

One of the factors that potential cooks find so intimidating about buying fish is the sheer number of varieties available. To help you manage the options and narrow your selection, we've provided you with this handy chart:

	Availability	Type of Fish	Cooking Methods
Bluefish	year round	fatty	baking, broiling, grilling
Cod	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Cusk	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Flounder	year round	lean	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Grouper	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Haddock	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Hake	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Halibut	early spring to early fall	lean	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Ling	year round	lean	stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Mahi Mahi	year round	medium-fatty	broiling, grilling
Monkfish	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Orange Roughy	year round	lean	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Perch	year round	lean	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Red Snapper	summer	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Salmon	summer to fall	fatty	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling
Sea Bass	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, pan-frying
Shark	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Skate	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Sole	year round	lean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Swordfish	late spring to early fall	medium-fatty	poaching, baking, broiling, grilling
Trout	year round	fatty	stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Tuna	late spring to early fall	fatty	baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Clams	summer	mollusk	baking, steaming
Crabs	summer to winter	crustacean	poaching, stewing, steaming
Lobster	spring to summer	crustacean	poaching, steaming
Mussels	early fall to spring	mollusk	baking, steaming,
Oysters	early fall to spring	mollusk	baking
Scallops, Bay	fall	mollusk	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, frying
Scallops, Sea	mid fall to mid spring	mollusk	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, frying
Shrimp	year round	crustacean	poaching, stewing, baking, broiling, grilling, frying
Squid	fall to winter	mollusk	stewing, frying

Now that you have all of this great information at your fingertips, it's time to learn about going out and purchasing fish for your next meal. Find tips in the next section.

Want more information? Try these:

• Cooking: Learn the ins and outs of some basic cooking techniques in this helpful article.
• Cooking Seafood: Get your feet wet by exploring the best ways to prepare seafood.
• Fish Recipes: Reel in dozens of amazing fish recipes from this article.
• Shellfish: From shrimp and lobster to clams, mussels, and more, you'll find valuable information on shellfish at HowStuffWorks.