This recipe is adapted from Whole Foods Market’s recipe collection: Grilled Whole Fish with Garlic and Lemon. It gives times for two fish, whole branzino or a whole red snapper, so you can use whichever your fishmonger has. Quantities and times follow the published page; the wording is ours.
Whole fish sounds intimidating, but the method is short: oil and season the fish, stuff the cavity with herbs and lemon, and grill it over medium-high heat with one flip. A grilled garlic-and-lemon sauce is made alongside. The page itself advises beginners to start with the smaller fish, since branzino is easier to turn.
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 3 whole branzino, about 1 pound (450 g) each, or 1 whole red snapper, about 3 pounds (1.4 kg), cleaned, scaled and with the gills removed
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- 1 garlic bulb, halved crosswise through the middle
- 2 lemons: 1 thinly sliced, the other cut in half
- ¼ cup (60 ml) tarragon leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme
Metric amounts are our conversions. The recipe suggests asking the fishmonger to prepare the fish for cooking whole.
Method
- Heat the grill for medium-high cooking. Once it is hot, clean the grates. The recipe gives no temperature figure.
- Cut three deep slits across each side of the fish.
- Rub the fish all over with 2½ tablespoons of the oil. Sprinkle ¾ teaspoon of the salt over the outside and inside the belly cavity, then fill the cavity with the herbs and lemon slices.
- Rub the cut garlic bulb with the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil.
- Grill the fish until the skin is blistered on the first side and releases from the grates. That takes 6 to 8 minutes for branzino, or 12 to 14 minutes for the snapper.
- Turn it with a large, long spatula. The page suggests a small baking sheet as a second tool to guide the flip.
- Grill until the second side is blistered and the flesh is opaque and flakes easily with a fork: about 5 more minutes for branzino, 10 more for snapper.
- While the fish cooks, grill the garlic cut side down, flipping halfway, for 6 to 8 minutes until lightly charred and tender. Wrap it tightly in foil to steam. Grill the lemon halves cut side down for about 5 minutes.
- Move the fish to a large platter with two spatulas and rest it for 5 minutes. Squeeze the soft garlic cloves into a bowl (discard the skins) and mash them. Squeeze in the grilled lemon juice, removing seeds, and stir in the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt to make a thick sauce.
- Serve the fish whole at the table and spoon the sauce over each portion.
Checking Doneness
The recipe’s cues are visual: blistered skin and opaque flesh that flakes with a fork. The FDA’s seafood guidance adds a number: most seafood should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C; the Celsius figure is our conversion). It also says fish is done when the flesh separates easily with a fork. If you have a food thermometer, use it to confirm the number, since thickness varies a lot from one fish to the next.
Handling Raw Fish and Leftovers
A whole fish means more handling of raw seafood than fillets do. The FDA recommends washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water after touching any raw food, and washing cutting boards, utensils and counters with soap and hot water between raw seafood and cooked or ready-to-eat food. On serving, it says cooked seafood should not sit out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour when the temperature is above 90°F (about 32°C, our conversion).
What This Recipe Contains
The dish contains fish, so it is not vegetarian or vegan. Apart from the fish, every ingredient on the published list is a plant-based item: olive oil, salt, garlic, lemon, tarragon and thyme.
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