Published Aug. 13, 2023.
This is Technique #80 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.
Order whole roasted or grilled fish at a restaurant and it will arrive with its skin crisp and browned and its meat mind-bogglingly moist and juicy.
Cooked on the bone—with the head attached—the fish possesses a deeper, more intense flavor than fillets or steaks.
But it’s easy to end up with abysmal results at home. The skin sticks fast to the pan or grill. The meat overcooks in spots and remains raw in others, and instead of tidy fillets, the fish crumbles into embarrassingly messy piles.
To successfully cook whole fish, first consider variety and size. Choose a semifirm fish like red snapper, trout, or striped bass. Though a large fish sounds impressive, it’s harder to maneuver and takes so long to cook through that the skin is likely to burn before the fish is cooked, no matter how low the heat. We suggest avoiding whole fish over 2 pounds.
Think of a whole fish for what it is: no more than two fillets clinging to a central skeleton. There are, of course, many ways to cook individual fillets, but two methods we like that also work perfectly with whole fish are roasting them quickly in a very hot oven and grilling them over a medium-hot, single-level fire. On larger fish, the skin can shrink, leading to uneven cooking, so we make slashes along the sides to allow for faster, even cooking (and it’s also easier to gauge doneness).
For smaller, quicker-cooking fish like trout or sardines, slashing isn’t necessary. When roasting, you don’t need to flip the fish. When grilling, you need two spatulas and a little maneuvering. Slide a spatula about an inch under the back-bone edge and lift up. Slide the second spatula under the fish, then remove the first spatula, allowing the fish to ease onto the second spatula. Place the first spatula on top of the fish so it’s oriented in same direction as the second spatula and gently flip the fish.
A cooked whole fish needs just a few strategic cuts in order to cleanly, easily separate the fillets from the skeleton. A fish spatula, which is large and flat, is our must-have tool for lifting the meat neatly from the bones (and for flipping the fish on the grill).
Crispy skin and tender, flaky texture are very possible to achieve at home so long as you follow one of two methods; each depending on whether you want to roast or grill your fish. Either roasting in a very hot oven or grill over a medium-hot, single-level fire will help to elevate your whole fish. Here are the key steps to this technique.
Rinse fish inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. For larger fish, make shallow slashes in skin about 2 inches apart to promote even cooking. Open cavity of fish and season inside. Close fish and season all over on outside.
Roast or grill as directed in recipe until desired temperature is reached.
To fillet, use sharp knife to make vertical cut just behind head from top of fish to belly.
Make horizontal cut along back of fish from head to tail.
Starting at head and working toward tail, use metal spatula to lift top fillet away from bones.
Lift and remove tail and skeleton and cut away head from remaining fillet. Discard head and skeleton.
Now that you know how to serve the very best whole fish—no matter your cooking method—you can try out your newfound knowledge on our recipes below.
Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.
