Cooking Shad

[africanist]

I picked up a couple of shad fillets on Sunday and am planning on cooking them for dinner tonight. The internet seems to not really know what to do, although I've found a lot of scientific descriptions of the fish.

My current plan is broiling them with lemon, rosemary, parsley, and dill. Any other ideas on what to do with a shad?

[zoramargolis]

Plan to spend some time with a pair of tweezers before you cook the filets. The backbone may have been removed, but shad have zillions of hair-like bones throughout the meat, which are rarely all excavated out.

Also--as a former fishmonger, my advice is oil and salt your fish before baking or broiling, and add the lemon afterward. Try doing slow roasting instead of broiling -- cook in a 240 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, just until the center of the filet is no longer translucent. Keep a close eye on it. You'll get a delicate texture like perfectly poached fish that way. Broiling or baking at high heat tends to dehydrate the meat and cause the protein to sieze up--easy to overcook a delicate fish filet at high heat.

[africanist]

Thanks very much for the advice! The shad turned out great, and this method is still a fairly simple and quick process for a weeknight dinner. I will definitely be cooking all kinds of fish in this manner.

You weren't kidding about the bones, I tried to get them all out, but there are tons! Fortunately, I recently took my fiance to Senegal where he was subjected to eating fish eyes and tails, so picking out a few bones no longer phases him...