how do you cook a whole red snapper?
seaseagurl asked:
My fish market sells a whole red snapper. I want to try to cook it. A lot of the recipes online recommend having the fish market gut the fish but leave the tail and head on. But I have had it in a restaurant served whole. Do you know how to cook it whole??
Joanne
My fish market sells a whole red snapper. I want to try to cook it. A lot of the recipes online recommend having the fish market gut the fish but leave the tail and head on. But I have had it in a restaurant served whole. Do you know how to cook it whole??
Joanne
Ted
it will need to be gutted, I have never heard of cooking it with innards.
some of the insides can be nasty( the poop bag).
Clean it , gut it, scale it.
I find olive oil is best, heat on med high. in a oven safe saute’ pan, cook fish for about 10 mins, add what ever you want( onions,mushrooms,capers,etc.) splash with wine, place in oven at 350 uncovered for about 20 min.
Allan
check out this cook book for a awesome recipe
you can down load it go to this URL
thanks…
Anthony
Whole Red Snapper in Szechuan Hot Sauce
My Mom would prepare this dish using the whole fish. I prefer fillets. Adjust the amount of hot bean sauce to fit your guest taste.
Ingredients
2(8ounce) red snapper fillets(or whole red snapper)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry white wine
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 stalks green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili bean sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
Directions
1Rub the fish with soy sauce and dry wine mixture.
2Let the fish fillets marinated in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
3Heat oil in a large skillet, saute the fish fillets for about 3 minutes on each side.
4Remove the fillets, add garlic, green onion, ginger, chili bean sauce, tomato paste, suger, vinegar and water.
5Bring the mixture to a boil before adding the fish fillets back to the skillet.
6Braise the fish in the sauce for about 4 to 5 minutes.
7Mix the cornstarch with 2 tsp of water, stir in the sauce and cook for another minute.
8Sprinkle with sesame oil (optional) and serve immediately with steamed rice and your favorite steamed vegetables.
…….
Most recipes call for cleaning the red snapper and leaving head and tail then preparing – this is the only one I could find fixed ‘whole’. Good luck.
Eric
Yes..do clean out the gut. Keep the head and tail..it for appearance only, and not to be eaten…but here is a great recipe for you…make sure to wash it and dry it with paper towels…
BAKED STUFFED RED SNAPPER:
1 whole red snapper, cleaned (3 to 4 lb.)
3 oz. butter, softened
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
STUFFING:
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/3 c. finely chopped celery
1/4 c. finely chopped green pepper
1 sm. tomato, chopped
2 c. soft bread crumbs
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1/4 c. chopped mushrooms
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
:
12 thin lemon slices
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash fish under cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Rub lightly with butter and sprinkle, inside and out, with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
3. Make stuffing: in butter in skillet, saute onion, garlic,celery and green pepper,mushroom until onion is soft. Add tomato, bread crumbs, parsley . Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and dash of pepper.
4. Spoon stuffing into cavity; close opening with skewers or wooden picks.
5. Place fish in greased, shallow roasting pan. Arrange alternating, slightly overlapping slices of lemon over top; sprinkle with lemon juice.
6. Cover with foil. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork.
7. With large spatula, carefully lift fish to heated platter. Garnish with parsley, if desired.
Makes 4-6 servings. Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes.
Agnes
Broil with butter and garlic on the grill with a little lemon pepper
Valerie
Definitely have your fish monger gut it, unless you want to do it yourself. A fish served whole has most definitely been gutted. The fish’s inside are unappealing as food and even as stock. Some cultures do have dishes calling for fish guts, but even those are unusual. If you can, have them scale it, too. Snapper scales are pretty large, and therefore easy to make sure you’ve gotten them all, but if the fish is good and fresh, they can be tougher to get off than some other fish, requiring multiple passes to get them all. If you like, asked for it dressed, meaning its fins, scales, guts, and gills have been removed. You won’t be eating these parts and you can either eat around them or remove them yourself before cooking the fish. It may be useful to note that if you roast the fish dressed, there still may be pin bones in the flesh which you must avoid. Many restaurants(including mine) choose to dress the fish, carefully fillet both sides only to the tail without removing the fillet entirely, remove the any offending pin bones from the fillets, and replace the fillets on the body, before roasting whole. This prevents guests from having to avoid fish bones in their meals.
As for the roasting itself, there are many methods. A popular one is to stuff lemon slices, sprigs of fresh herbs(such as rosemary or thyme), and crushed garlic cloves into the fishes empty cavity(where the guts used to be) and roast it that way. Rub the outside of the fish with olive oil, salt, pepper, perhaps some other herbs if you like, and roast at 500 degrees F. for about 20-25 minutes until it’s done.
You could also wrap it in banana leaves or callaloo along with seasonings, and roast it the same way for a different flavor.
Most importantly, you should work with it, respect the fish for what it is, namely, a thing of beauty, and above all, have fun!