The Basics: How to Make a Whole Roasted Fish

Published on Thursday, April 24, 2008, by CHOW Food Team / Edit Post

The Basics: How to Make a Whole Roasted Fish

From the store to the kitchen to the table: We outline the steps that get you from something raw to something cooked using simple ingredients, free of measurements and complicated techniques. A method that you can have in your back pocket and whip out whenever you like. We call it recipe-free cooking.

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You'll need:

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  • paper towels
  • a knife
  • a rack or aluminum foil
  • a baking sheet
  • a fork
  • a spatula
  • one small whole fish (a two-pound fish will feed two to three people; ours was farm-raised striped bass, but you could buy snapper, catfish, branzino, or a small salmon; it should come already scaled and gutted)
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • one lemon
  • a couple of fresh rosemary sprigs

Illustrations by Bill Russell

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COMMENT

  • Made this tonight with a codfish and it was buttery and beautiful and perfect.

  • I made this a few weeks ago & my husband said it was the best fish he ever had (apart from one in a restaurant in Italy). I followed the recipe but here's where I differed:

    I drizzled the inside & outside of the fish with good evoo.
    Rubbed a bit of smashed garlic in the cavity.
    Parboiled some potatoes & artichoke hearts & threw them in to roast under the fish (also drizzled with evoo &...+READ

    I made this a few weeks ago & my husband said it was the best fish he ever had (apart from one in a restaurant in Italy). I followed the recipe but here's where I differed:

    I drizzled the inside & outside of the fish with good evoo.
    Rubbed a bit of smashed garlic in the cavity.
    Parboiled some potatoes & artichoke hearts & threw them in to roast under the fish (also drizzled with evoo & rosemary sprigs & salt & pepper).
    Tipped in a glass of white wine over the fish before cooking.

    When serving, have on hand some more evoo for drizzling over the fish fillets, and more freshly cracked sea-salt & pepper.

    For about 800 gm of fish, it took me about 50 min at 200 degrees Celsius.-COLLAPSE