Frozen Fish for One in the Microwave

[jesse_the_k]

Easy, quick high protein meal. My microwave is 1600 watts; see notes below on adjust timing for your microwave’s power.

Tools

• Covered glass dish
• Fork

Ingredients

• approximately 120g (1/4 lb) frozen fish fillet (I use tilapia)
• 15ml (1 Tbs) tart liquid: tamari or vinegar or lemon juice or white wine
• 15ml (1 Tbs) fat: sesame oil or olive oil or butter

Method

1. Unwrap fillet, place in dish, splash with liquid, cover
2. Microwave 4:00 minutes at 60% power
3. Remove, flip fish, add fat, replace
4. Microwave 2:00 at 100%
5. Let rest for a minute, grab fork and enjoy

Variations

Add any quick-cook veg in step 3: I use baby spinach and sliced mushrooms since a 2-minute zap is all they need. When cooked, I like to add some color and flavor with Zymbiotics’ Ginger Carrots. I've also seasoned this with Fody’s Sesame Ginger Sauce. When I'm feeling ambitious, I'll make a dressing of 1 part peanut butter, 1 part tahini, and 2 parts rice vinegar.

Adjusting Microwave Time Depending on Wattage

Epicurious provides rules-of-thumb for modifying cooking times

Their essential formulas

\ To match the power of a microwave with a lower wattage, simply divide the desired wattage by your microwave’s wattage. Shift the decimal two places to the right to get the percentage power you should set your machine to. So if you have a 1,000-watt microwave and are following a recipe that calls for a 600-watt one, you should set the power to 60%. If your machine is 1,200-watts and needs to mimic a 800-watt one, you should set the power to 70% because you’ll round the 66.67% up to 70%. You can’t approximate the power produced by a machine with a higher wattage; you can only increase the cooking time. You’ll need about 10 additional seconds for every 100 watts for every minute of cook time. So if something takes 2 minutes in a 1,200-watt microwave on 100% power, it’ll take 2 minutes plus 20 seconds in an 1,000-watt one.

The Omni Calculator Microwave Wattage Converter looks promising, but I only have the one microwave so I can’t test it.

Comments

[lunabee34]

We do this all the time. It's such an easy dinner and very yum.

Does it scale up?

[jesse_the_k]

I've only made it for one -- how many is your "we"?

Re: Does it scale up?

[lunabee34]

As many as 6-8. You're basically only constrained by the size of the dish that will fit in your microwave.

I've got a pyrex that will fit 8 or so filets in one layer and go in the microwave.

I also like to season with lemon pepper or some cajun seasoning.