When a friend presented a 16-inch spot-tail bass along with the customary bottle of wine at our last dinner party, we were grateful, if slightly intimidated. The fish was glistening, hooked that morning, and expertly gutted, scaled and cleaned, but we had always perceived a whole fish to be a capital P production, a show-stopping centerpiece better left to the skilled chefs at a Chinese or Greek banquet hall.
And it was looking us square in the eye.
As we would soon discover, cooking a fish on the bone–with its head and tail fin intact–is among the most rewarding ways to experience fish at home, producing a clarity of flavor and a texture unrivaled by the precut, disembodied fillet. Moreover, cooking a whole fish is a breeze.
There are in fact many reasons to forgo limp fillets and reach for the whole creature, but foremost among them is flavor. Sandwiched between the fatty skin and the gelatin-rich backbone, the flesh cooks to a subtle sweetness and delicacy that is instantly, recognizably superior to all home-cooked fish that have come before. Chefs who cook whole fish daily at their restaurants agree.
“The flavor of whole fish is as true as possible to its natural taste,” said Rick Moonen, the chef at the New York City seafood temple RM. “So when you cook it, you want to season it as simply as possible: olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon.”
Grilling a whole fish that has been brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper is a snap, and it achieves that perfect contrast of crispy skin and flaky flesh. But grilling outdoors is not always feasible, so we tried another, even simpler method: pan-frying whole rainbow trout that we had lightly dusted with cornstarch, salt and pepper. After just five minutes on each side (for a 3/4-pound trout), the skin became beautifully blistered and golden while the meat within remained terrifically moist.
Oven-roasting a whole snapper at a low temperature over a bed of sturdy, aromatic vegetables such as fennel, onion and carrots is another excellent way to ease into the whole-fish fetish. And the vegetables do triple-duty: They keep the fish from sticking to the bottom of the pan, they impart a hint of flavor to the flesh and most important, they soak up the juices the snapper releases, becoming a delicious side dish or garnish.
The classic Chinese way
Steaming fish on top of the stove is nearly as easy, and the classic Chinese-style whole fish steamed with ginger, green onions and soy sauce is our preferred method. No special steaming apparatus is required, said Anita Lo, chef at Annisa in New York City, who offered her home recipe. Lo, who often cooks locally caught black sea bass, simply uses a pie plate set in a covered pot large enough to accommodate the plate. She puts a thick ring of crumpled aluminum foil in the bottom of the pot to lift the plate a half-inch or so above a thin layer of boiling water.
Whichever method you choose, one cooking tip is universal. To ensure that the fish cooks evenly–so that the thin portions near the tail are not overcooked by the time the thicker parts are done–make a few diagonal slashes down to the bone, a couple inches apart, across the broad middle of the fish, on both sides.
Besides exposing the interior of the fish to the heat, these incisions serve as a convenient visual doneness gauge. You want to cook the fish only until the flesh nearest the bone turns opaque. While overcooking is a possibility with whole fish, you can always remove it from the oven and check the doneness of the meat closest to the bone.
Jasper White, chef/co-owner of Summer Shack restaurants in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., and Uncasville, Conn., said, “Don’t be afraid to peek.” Compared to the vigilance required to cook a tuna fillet to medium-rare, cooking whole fish is nearly foolproof.
A fear of sharp bones may account for much of the intimidation home cooks feel about whole fish. Fear not, say the experts.
“Fish have such a simple, two-dimensional bone structure,” White said. (He later excepted shad and cod from the generalization). “A chicken is much more difficult to bone.” And after boning no fewer than 12 fish in a single week, we found it to be, in fact, far easier to remove the flaky meat from a fish’s flank than it is to get the good stuff off a sinewy chicken leg.
Cutting the fish
Three simple cuts help lift the fillet cleanly from the spine, leaving most–though not all–of the bones behind. The first is a vertical cut from a point just behind the top of the head down toward the belly. The second is a short vertical cut through the body of the fish just forward of the tail fin. The third is a shallow incision that traces the top ridge of the fish and connects the first two cuts.
Gentle pressure with a dull knife, a spatula or even the back of a spoon will release portions of the fillet from the flat bone structure. After removing one side of the fish, gently lift the backbone, head and tail, leaving the bottom filet behind.
Picking the carcass clean is a large part of the appeal of preparing a whole fish. Different areas of the same fish can taste very different.
Fennel-roasted red snapper
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Adapted from New York City chef Rick Moonen.
1 fennel bulb with tops
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon each: kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 red snapper, about 1 1/2 pounds cleaned, gills and fins removed
1 large lemon
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut tops from fennel; set aside. Slice root end crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick disks. Brush fennel with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil; season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Place disks in a single layer in a large, heavy skillet; Place in oven; roast 5 minutes.
2. Lay fish on a cutting board. Make two diagonal bone-deep cuts nearly perpendicular to backbone, about 2 inches apart at thickest part of body. Turn fish over; repeat cuts. Brush both sides of fish and cavity with remaining olive oil; season entire fish with remaining salt and pepper.
3. Cut fronds from fennel tops; wash and dry. Stuff into fish cavity. Slice three 1/4-inch-thick disks from the center of the lemon. Place one in cavity; cut others in half, and place on fish.
4. Lay fish flat over fennel in skillet; squeeze remaining lemon over fish. Roast until flesh nearest bones is opaque, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
610 calories, 47% of calories from fat, 32 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 11 g carbohydrates, 69 g protein, 1,149 mg sodium, 4 g fiber
Chinese-style steamed black sea bass
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 servings
Adapted from New York City chef Anita Lo. If you can’t find black sea bass, red snapper could be used–or ask your fishmonger for a worthy substitute.
1 black sea bass or red snapper, about 1 3/4-pounds, cleaned, gills and fins removed
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 piece (3 inches long) ginger root, peeled, cut in matchsticks
2 bunches green onions, white and green parts diagonally sliced
8 sprigs cilantro
1/4 cup soy sauce
1. Lay fish flat on a cutting board. Make two diagonal bone-deep cuts perpendicular to backbone (They should be 2 inches apart at thickest part of body.) Turn fish over; repeat cuts. Transfer fish to a pie plate; brush both sides of fish and cavity with oil. Season fish with sugar, salt and pepper.
2. Press ginger and white portion of the green onions on both sides of fish, into incisions and into cavity. Stuff cavity with 1/4th of the green tops of the onions. Lay another 1/4th of the remaining tops and the cilantro over fish (reserve remaining green onion tops for another use or discard). Pour soy sauce in a thin stream over fish.
3. Heat an inch of water to a boil in a stockpot or Dutch oven large enough to accommodate pie plate with fish on it. Place a rack or a ring of crumpled aluminum foil in stockpot. Place plate with fish on it on top; plate should sit just above water. Cover pot; steam 15-20 minutes, or until flesh nearest bones is opaque. Remove the fish with two spatulas. Spoon liquid from plate over fish before serving.
Nutrition information per serving:
590 calories, 35% of calories from fat, 22 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 172 mg cholesterol, 12 g carbohydrates, 79 g protein, 1,893 mg sodium, 4.5 g fiber
