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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