How to Cook a Whole Fish
It seems weird that I’ve only recently cooked my first whole fish. I mean, I love fish, I’ve always heard how easy it is to do and I have a fabulous professional and personal reputation with the best local fish market (shout out to The Market at River Falls!). So why the delay? I really can’t say. But now that I have one whole Bronzino under my belt I guarantee that there will be more, with different species and varied aromatics.
I thought that I would dedicate this post to the general How To so that you can catch up and we can experiment together. If you are already a whole fish cooking pro, please share your tips in the comments below.
The first step is to find a fish market that you trust. This is always important to guarantee that you are buying a fresh, quality product but even more so in the case of cooking a whole fish because you are going to want to ask the fishmonger to prepare the fish for you. When I told David at The Market at River Falls that I was planning to cook the fish whole, he not only selected a beauty but assured me that the scales had been removed and the fish had been gutted. He then asked if I wanted the gills removed (yes), the tail and fins trimmed (yes) and the head on or off (on). Basically, he asked questions that I didn’t know to ask and knew the answers before I responded. For the novice, this is essential.
From that point, I followed the beautiful, step-by-step instructions for Oven Roasting a Whole Fish on Gimme Some Oven. Feel free to click through if you are more of a visual learner. The process could not have been easier and the resulting fish was restaurant quality in terms of moistness, flakiness and presentation. Go ahead and give it a try. Enjoy!
Oven Roasted Whole Fish
Ingredients
- 1 large whole fish (such as mahi mahi, sea bass, or branzino) scaled and gutted
- 1-2 Tbls olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic peeled and minced
- 1 lemon halved
- handful of fresh herbs I used parsley; rosemary, thyme, oregano, cilantro are all good choices
- sea salt, freshly-cracked black pepper and garlic powder
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, or grease with cooking spray.
- Give your fish one final good rinse once you’re ready to cook, then lightly pat it dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife to lightly score the top of the fish in diagonal lines about 1-inch apart. Brush the fish generously on both sides with the oil. Then briefly brush the inner cavity with oil as well.
- Slice half of the lemon into slices, and stuff those as well as the garlic and herbs into the cavity of the fish (being sure that the garlic is completely tucked in and not exposed or it will burn).
- Season the outside of the fish generously with a few good pinches of sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Roast for 18-20 minutes, or until the fish reaches an internal temperature of 145°F and flakes easily with a fork. (Cooking time will vary depending on the size/variety of your fish.)
- Remove from the oven, and squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half evenly over the top of the fish. Serve warm, and enjoy!