All throughout my childhood the only type of fish we ate at home was fillet of sole and even that was a rarity. “Don’t choke” my mother would blurt, just as the fork would hit my lips. I remember looking at my brothers across the table thinking “How can a person choke on a piece of fillet of sole?” Eventually, the lack of exposure to fresh fish combined with the potent effects of a mother’s anxiety, left me fish-phobic. Anyway (thankfully) I happened to marry a man that adores fish so, as an adult, I finally Iearned to appreciate all kinds of seafood. And now, when I polish off a whole roasted fish, leaving nothing but a pile of bones, I’m particularly proud. Even more importantly, when I see my kids do this, too, it assures me that I didn’t pass my inherited childhood fears of choking onto them. (I guess this is part of what’s called “evolutionary enlightenment…” ) Of course, I have a ways to go. If you saw my “routine” when attempting to swallow a pill larger than an aspirin, you’d shake your head in disbelief. Yep, Just like Mom….

Anyway, I will admit that, for the uninitiated, being presented with an entire fish can be a bit intimidating. “Where do I start?” is usually the first thought. Then comes, “is there anything I shouldn’t eat–like the eyes?” And then comes that bossy internal bellow “be careful of the bones!”

I’ll talk about eating a whole fish in a minute–but for now, let’s stick to cooking it, which is really easy.

Roasting a whole fish, whether it’s several pounds which will feed a few, or an individual fish, meant to serve just one, this is a very healthy choice for a main dish and it’s doable, even after a busy day out in the world.

Technically, in a bare-bones way (no pun intended), all you do is season the fish, inside and out, with salt and pepper then rub the skin with a lubricant (extra-virgin olive oil is a good choice). And then, just before roasting on a shallow baking sheet, in a very hot oven, you’d add a good squeeze of fresh citrus juice (lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit). There are a million ways to elaborate on/alter the flavoring ingredients using different herbs, mustards, vinegars, cold-pressed oils, vegetables and/or a wide range of other ethnic ingredients.

Ok, let’s talk about how I seasoned last night’s Branzino. I bought two whole fish (about 1 pound each, weighed before gutting). I asked my fish-monger to scale and gut each fish and to remove the gills. I also asked for the head and tail to be left intact (although you certainly could ask for the head to be removed–chicken!). After rinsing and drying each fish inside and out, I used a sharp knife to diagonally slash each side of each fish two or three times (I do it three or four times in larger fish) in the chubbier mid-section (about an inch apart). Slashing not only helps the fish to cook evenly but it’s also a way to force some of the seasoning mixture past the skin to flavor some of the flesh. Keep the slashes shallow, though, just through the flesh. If you go too deep you can splinter the skeletal structure, making the flesh, once cooked, seem more bony. (Although this is no big deal, the Jewish mother in me made me feel obligated to mention it…)

I laid the fish side by side in a nonreactive dish (9 x 13-inch Pyrex is good) and I seasoned both fish, inside and out, with Kosher salt (you could use sea salt) and black pepper.

Ingredients for last night’s fish: I decided to make a vinaigrette-type mixture: I mixed several cloves of minced garlic (about 6) with 1 tablespoon of whole-grain Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons of strained fresh lemon juice (I juice several lemons at the start of each week and, after straining, I keep the juice (about 3/4 cup) in a small screw-top jar, in the fridge), a generous teaspoon of crushed red chili flakes, a handful of chopped Italian parsley (you could also use chives, cilantro, basil…herbs like that). Then I whisked in 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (actually, I used my Garlic Confit oil, which is usually in the refrigerator) and, after seasoning to taste with salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, I poured this over and inside each fish. Here’s what the seasoned fish looked like….

Seasoned Whole Branzino

Here’s an optional embellishment: Because I had some raw, sliced fresh leeks in the fridge (leftover from the previous night), I decided to sauté them in some butter (you could use olive oil) and, once softened, seasoned with salt and pepper and being allowed to cool, I stuffed the leeks into the cavity of each fish. Take a look:

Branzino, stuffed with cooked leeks.

The fish can be stuffed, covered and refrigerated for several hours. Take the fish out of the fridge 30 minutes or so prior to roasting.

One more optional embellishment: I decided to make a savory breadcrumb mixture to sprinkle on top of the fish at the end of roasting. I always keep a stash of dried breadcrumbs in the freezer. I sautéed 2 cloves minced garlic in 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (you could use butter) and, when the garlic was softened and fragrant (just about a minute) I stirred in a generous tablespoon of minced flat-leaf Italian parsley (you could use chives, basil or cilantro). And, although I didn’t last night, often I’ll add a little crumbled, dried oregano. I then stirred the garlic-herb mixture into a bowl holding a scant 2/3 cup of dried breadcrumbs and I seasoned the crumbs with salt and pepper. And, that’s that!

Here’s what the crumbs looked like:

Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Now, let’s get to the roasting: The most important elements to achieving savory results (other than using sound flavoring ingredients, of course) is to give the fish full exposure to dry heat (in a shallow pan), which is the definition of roasting, along with cooking in a super hot oven.

So, here’s how I set up to roast the fish: I took a large, round almost flat baking sheet (I use a black steel pan which encourages more heat retention, but any low, heavy sheet-pan will do. I lined my pan (as seen above, in the picture of the stuffed fish) with nonstick aluminum foil (I placed several overlapping sheets of foil on the pan and scrunched the sides to create a low border to keep any juices that might exude when roasting from spilling over, which would cause the oven to smoke). If you don’t have nonstick foil, just use regular aluminum foil, shiny side up, and grease the surface to prevent the fish from sticking. (If wondering, I don’t use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan because I roast fish at 500F which could cause the paper to burn.)

Cooking time will vary with the size of the fish. The goal is to cook the flesh just till cooked but still succulent and the outside (skin) should be deeply blistered and extremely sexy looking.

Timing: 1 to 1 1/4 pounds will take 17 to 22 minutes in a preheated 500F oven. A 2 to 2 1/2-pounder will take 25 to 32 minutes at 475F (the lower temperature will help the interior flesh to cook properly while allowing the exterior a bit more time in the hot oven without incinerating.

I roasted our fish for 20 minutes at 500F, then sprinkled the crumbs over the top skin of each fish and continued to roast for 3 more minutes, until the crumbs were golden.

Here’s din-din…

Roasted Branzino, Stuffed with Leeks and Topped with Breadcrumbs

Ta-dahh…

I'm so proud of my bones!

My mother would plotz….

Ok, let’s talk about how to eat a whole fish…

If serving a larger fish, divide each one in half or thirds (depending on the size) by driving a sharp knife straight down through the body. If you want to remove the head, simply cut it off, but first pull the sweet nugget of “cheek meat” out and place on one (lucky person’s) plate. An alternative is to seperate the top fillet of fish from the bones and divide the flesh. To do this, insert a sharp knife into the flesh, just on top of the spine. Ease the meat off the bones, which should come away easily if cooked properly (if too raw, the fish flesh will cling to the bones). After removing the top fillet completely, use the tip of the knife (at the tail end) to lift up the skeleton so it comes away freely. Use your hands to pick up and remove the skeletal structure. Portion the bottom fillet as you would the top and enjoy.

To eat individual fish, use your knife to ease the cooked fillet off of the skeletal structure. After eating the top fillet, either turn over the fish so the bones face the plate to enjoy the remaining flesh or lift off the bones, as described above. And yes, although I don’t, you can eat the eyes….

To serve whole fish to children: I suggest to always fillet fish for young children. Having said this, my kids have been eating whole fish since they were about 10 years old (and they do a better job than me!). Even after filleting, it’s a good idea to instruct children how to detect a stray bone. Tell them to, after putting some cooked fish in the front of their mouth, to use the tip of their tongue to move the fish around, looking for a bone. If one is detected, they should keep the food in the front of their mouth and calmly use their tongue to push the bone out past their lips. They should then use their fingers to pull the bone out of their mouth. It’s also a good idea to have a separate small plate just for the bones so that they don’t inadvertently get mixed with something else on the plate.

Tags: cooking branzino, cooking whole fish, fresh fish cooking, how to cook whole fish, how to serve whole fish

Comments (2)

2 Comments »

1. I love your blog! I forwarded this to my hubby – I’m hoping he’ll bring home some fish tonight!

   Comment by Annie — May 20, 2009 @ 7:50 pm

2. Thanks so much, Annie! Enjoy din-din!! And, please let me know how the fish comes out (and, of course, I’m here for you with any questions).
   Lauren

   Comment by Lauren — May 20, 2009 @ 8:25 pm

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