How to Make Chef John's Grilled Whole Fish

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Chef John shows you how to make Grilled Whole Fish that's crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and bursting with flavor. In this video, you’ll learn everything from choosing the right fish to seasoning, stuffing with herbs, and grilling it to perfection.

Transcript

00:00hello this is chef john from foodwishes.com with grilled whole fish that's right i've always

00:09thought grilling a whole fish is much easier than trying to grill small pieces i also think it looks

00:14better tastes better and there's much less of a chance that the meat falls through the grates

00:20which according to a recent made-up study is where 40 of america's grilled fish ends up

00:25and to get started let's mix up a very simple seasoned salt which will include some kosher

00:31salt some freshly ground black pepper some paprika some garlic powder and last but not least a few

00:39shakes of cayenne and that's it we'll take a freakishly small wooden spoon and we will give

00:44that a mix and then we'll set that aside for now and we'll move on to the fish and one of the keys

00:51to the operation is choosing the right hole fish which is why i'm recommending we use bronzino

00:57which is easy to find it's also the perfect shape and the perfect size and you want to be sure you

01:02tell your fish person to make sure it's scaled and gutted and this one was oh and if they're nice and

01:08fresh the eye should be nice and shiny and glistening and i'm trying to find the right angle to show you

01:13that and by the way that's actually the same way you can tell if a chef is fresh and what we'll do first

01:20is generously season the inside cavity with our seasoned salt and then besides that i also

01:26recommend we stuff the inside with some nice fresh herbs which can be a lot of things but this time

01:31i'm using fresh chive some tarragon some italian parsley and finally some coriander flowers which is

01:40what you get when you let your cilantro plant go to seed but no matter what you use what we'll do is

01:45kind of wad that up and stuff it into the cavity and besides providing flavor and a great aroma

01:51that's also going to add some extra moisture to the inside although using this technique

01:56it's actually not easy to dry out the fish which is why i like it so much but anyway once the inside

02:02is seasoned and packed with herbs we'll go ahead and drizzle the outside with a little bit of olive oil

02:08and once that's been rubbed over we will season the outside generously with our salt and spice mix

02:13oh and i highly recommend we do this on a piece of parchment paper and you'll see why very soon

02:19and by the way be careful we should probably use a pastry brush for the olive oil since the gills and

02:25ends of the fins can be very sharp and you can actually cut or poke yourself so please don't do that

02:31since i'll get blamed and then once our fish is prepped we could head right to the grill and start cooking

02:37but what i'd rather do is sort of roll and wrap this up in the parchment paper and pop it in the

02:42fridge for about a half hour or so while we're building a fire and getting our grill ready which

02:48is exactly why i like to do the seasoning on the parchment paper and like i said this is optional but

02:54it is nice to give those flavors time to mingle together and that's it about 30 minutes later we'll head

03:00to the grill and we will place this over a not too hot very mature charcoal fire all right we want those

03:07coals very ashy and the other key is to make sure you place that down perpendicular to the grates

03:13and not parallel to the grates since that's going to make it a lot trickier to get your spatula under

03:19and what we'll do is give that first side about four minutes or so we should be enough time for that

03:24skin to release from the metal so we want to be a little bit patient here and what we'll do is give

03:30it a quick check to make sure it is in fact not sticky and then the best way to flip is to put our

03:36spatula right under the belly with our tongs on the other side bracing the fish and we will flip that

03:42over towards the backbone and because that's rounded it should flip over quite easily and that's it once

03:49that's been repositioned we will let that second side cook for about four minutes

03:53oh and by the way if the entirety of the skin is black your fire was too hot so we want to be

03:59careful not to overdo it with the coals which we can always push to the sides and use more of an

04:04indirect heat and speaking of heat reduction usually about halfway through the second side cook

04:10i will pop on the lid with the vent open to create more of a roasting environment and to decrease

04:15the amount of oxygen getting to the coals but anyway at this point i'm going to uncover

04:21and after about four minutes per side we'll give it a test and what i'm looking for is an internal

04:26temp of 135 in the thickest spot and this was a little bit under so i decided to flip it over and

04:32continue cooking and that's it we'll simply wait till this reaches our desired doneness

04:38at which point we'll carefully pull that off the grill and it's probably easier if somebody holds the

04:43pan and you use two spatulas but i was alone so i used the pan to brace the fish and i was able to

04:49pick it up with no problem and i'm going to go ahead and transfer that on to a nice roasted potato and

04:54radish salad or at least that's what i'm calling it and then before we serve i like to drizzle on

05:00another touch of olive oil just to shine things up and then we'll do maybe one more sprinkling of our

05:06seasoned salt and that's it i'm going to grab a fork and spoon and squeeze on a little bit of fresh lemon

05:12before i go ahead and tear in which i mean literally and if you cook this to the right temp

05:18and you followed our instructions that fish should flake off the bone beautifully yet still be nice

05:23and moist and not dry at all and i know a lot of you are going to peel that skin off but i hope you

05:29don't okay sure it's going to be a little easier to get the meat but that skin is so flavorful and if you

05:35eat this right off the grill it's still going to be a little bit crisp and if you've never tried fish

05:40skin before this is definitely the time to try it and no you don't have to eat like a primitive

05:45savage right on the platter right that's how michelle and i always enjoy it but you can if you want

05:51slide those fillets off the bone and then plate up some nice big neater looking pieces and i'll kind

05:56of show you that in a minute but take my word for it this method is much more fun but anyway you'll

06:02have to decide i mean you are after all the naked and afraid of how this is played but either way

06:08you're in for a big treat and once we've eaten all the meat off one side including that sweet cheek meat

06:15and also don't forget to gnaw around the tail which is basically the chicken wing of grilled fish

06:21but anyway once that first side's been enjoyed we can grab the backbone and we can pull that straight

06:27up all the way to the head which is going to leave us with pretty much a boneless second side

06:32which we can if we want cut in half and plate up as a whole piece although as i already admitted

06:38michelle and i like to eat it right off the bone right on the platter in fact i have to thank her

06:42for this video's rhyme since as we were eating that first half she said this is just like naked and

06:48afraid except we're clothed and not scared and drinking wine but whether you plate up or go full savage

06:56grilling up a whole fish is easy fun and delicious and we really do hope you give it a try soon so

07:03please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts a printable written recipe and much more info

07:08as usual and as always enjoy

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