Best Baked Whole Fish Recipes

BAKED WHOLE FISH

Steps:

• Soak the fish in cold, salted water for 15-30 minutes; drain and dry slightly.
• Preheat oven to 400.
• Season cavity with lemon slices, celery, onion, salt, and pepper and 2 TBS lemon juice.
• Close the fish and place bacon strips on top or around fish.
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, onion salt and remainder of lemon juice.
• Cover with pats of butter and bake until flesh is white and flakes apart with fork (about 30 minutes for a 2 1/2 pound fish or 40-45 minutes for a 3 pounder).
• the fish may be broiled at the end to brown the bacon.
• Cut into 1 1/2 inch wide sections and serve with lemon wedges.
• Serves 2-4, depending on size of fish.
• Note: Other vegetables such as potatoes and tomatoes may be cooked with the fish if desired.

WHOLE SALT-BAKED FISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Stuff the cavity of the fish with lemon slices, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the salt and egg whites with your hands; it will become the consistency of wet sand.
• In a large baking dish or rimmed baking sheet that is large enough to fit the entire fish (it's okay if the fish only just fits), lay one-third of the salt mixture down, roughly in the shape of the fish. Place the fish on top of the salt mixture and pack the remaining salt mixture around the fish, leaving exposed the area from the eyes to the nose, and also the tail fin. The salt mixture should fully encase the fish, but may not fill the pan. In fact, unless you use a really narrow pan, you'll probably leave most of the pan exposed.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the fish is 130 to 135 degrees F. Depending on the exact size of your fish, your cooking time may vary. Don't break the salt crust while it's cooking or you'll let the juices escape. If you have one of those nice thermometers with the wires that you can leave in the oven while you cook to determine temperature, use that, and pack the salt around the probe to seal it in before cooking. If you don't have one of those fancy thermometers, check the temp by going through the exposed mouth with a probe thermometer. Once done, remove the fish from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• While the fish is resting, whisk together the lemon juice and zest, oil, Dijon, salt, and pepper to make a lemon vinaigrette to serve over the fish.
• To remove the fish from the salt shell, use a butter knife and a wooden mallet or spoon. Like a paleontologist, I try to guess where the dorsal fin would be. Hit the fish right there, in the middle of the back (remember it's laying on its side). I place the tip of the butter knife where the dorsal fin was and tap it with the mallet or spoon, putting it in and giving it a wiggle. I score all the way around the fish, like I'm excavating it, so I can remove the salt dome in one piece. It doesn't mess anything up if you don't get it off in the one piece, but it just looks cooler if you do. Once you've gone all the way around the outline of the fish, remove the top part of the salt dome.
• The skin is a little chewy, but it still tastes good, so help yourself to a piece. Cook's reward. Then go under the skin with a fork, down to the spine, and slide across the bottom to filet the fish from the spine. You might get it all in one filet. But most times you have to go back and clean it up.
• Then take the mallet and butter knife, and place the knife at the base of the spine where it meets the head. Tap the handle end of the butter knife with the mallet to crack the spine. Remove the entire spine and bones. With a fork, slide along the bottom of the fish, between the flesh and the salt crust, to remove the other fish filet. You probably won't get the skin off cleanly with this filet, and that's fine.
• This will yield two 10-ounce (or so) filets. Place each filet on a plate and finish with a spoonful of the lemon vinaigrette and a sprinkle of salt and parsley on top.

WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SALT

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• 2. Rinse the fish with cold water, pat it dry and refrigerate until just before cooking.
• 3. Pour a fine layer of salt in the bottom of an oven-proof baking dish that is just slightly larger than the fish. Lay two bay leaves on the salt, then place the fish on the bay leaves. Place the peppercorns inside the belly cavity of the fish, then top the fish with the remaining 2 bay leaves. Pour the remaining salt over the fish to cover it, leaving the tail fin exposed if necessary.
• 3. Place the fish on the middle rack in the center of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. You cannot test the fish for doneness - you simply have to trust the timing. Remove the fish from the oven and gently crack off the layer of salt, removing as much of it as you can. Most of the skin will come off the fish as well - what doesn't come off when you remove the salt you need to remove gently, using a sharp knife.
• 4. Remove the fillets divide the fish among four slightly warmed dinner plates. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with the chervil, if desired.

BAKED WHOLE FISH IN GARLIC-CHILI SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees, OR warm up your barbecue/grill. Stir all marinade/sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside. Place fish on a cutting board and score it by making vertical cuts an inch or more apart along the length of fish from head to tail. Turn fish over and do the same on the other side. If Grilling the Fish: See below. For Baked Fish: Place fish on a large piece of tin foil or banana leaf. Make sure the foil or leaf is big enough to cover/wrap the fish. (For more information on banana leaf, see my: All About Cooking With Banana Leaves.) Drizzle 3 Tbsp. (or more) of the marinade/sauce over each fish, covering both sides. Be sure to spoon some into the cuts you've made, as well as into the underside cavity. Reserve the rest for later. Bring the long sides of the foil up and over the fish, scrunching it together. Try to keep the foil off the surface of the fish, making a kind of shallow tent over it. Also fold up each end and scrunch to secure. If using banana leaf: Simply fold the sides and ends of the leaf over fish to cover it. With banana leaf, you actually want the leaf to come into contact with the fish, as this adds to the flavor. Bake the fish (in foil) directly on your oven rack. Or - if you're worried about spillage, place wrapped fish on a baking sheet or tray and place in the oven. Fish wrapped in banana leaf will require a dish or tray, as banana leaf is permeable. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or longer, depending on the size and thickness of your fish. Remove fish from oven and check some of the deeper cuts to see if inner flesh is cooked (it should be opaque, not pink or translucent-looking). If fish still needs more time, return to your oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until cooked. To finish the fish, remove from oven and open up the foil, scrunching it around the fish to create a kind of bowl (see photo). For banana leaf, simply open up the leaf, which will have become drier and slightly crispy.

WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SEA SALT

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 450°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil, leaving generous overhang. Combine first 3 ingredients in small skillet. Toast spices over medium heat until beginning to pop, stirring frequently, about 9 minutes. Cool spices. Coarsely crush in mortar with pestle or in heavy resealable plastic bag with mallet.
• Rinse fish inside and out; pat dry. Sprinkle all of spice mixture in fish cavity. Stuff with leek and lemon slices.
• Whisk egg whites and water in large bowl to blend. Add salt. Stir until salt is evenly moistened. Spread 2 cups salt mixture in 4-inch-wide, 12-inch-long strip (or use more to equal length of fish) on prepared sheet. Place fish on salt. Cover fish completely with remaining salt mixture, pressing to seal.
• Bake fish 25 minutes. Let stand in crust 10 minutes.
• Using large knife, rap crust sharply to crack. Brush salt from fish. Cut into portions and serve, passing extra-virgin olive oil and lemon wedges alongside.

WHOLE BAKED FISH WITH CILANTRO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Drizzle a large oven-safe pan with oil.
• Rinse trout and pat dry with a paper towel. Place on a flat work surface. Cut trout from one side through the middle horizontally to within one-half inch of the other side. Open the two sides and spread them out like an open book; lay onto the prepared pan.
• Place tomatoes, onion, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse until chopped fine but not pureed. Pour 1/2 the mixture on top of 1/2 of the trout; fold the other side of trout on top. Spoon the remaining 1/2 of the mixture on and around the sealed trout. Add water to the pan; arrange potatoes around the trout. Cover pan with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until trout flakes easily with a fork, about 45 minutes.

BAKED WHOLE FISH WITH TAHINI SAUCE AND TEMPURA VEGETABLES

Steps:

• I use 2 pans for the cooking 1 for each fish, I put the same amount of ingredients listed above per pan. By that I mean 1/3 cup lime per pan 1/2 cup wine per pan etc -- Or double up and eye ball dividing mixture evenly among pans.
• Combine lime juice, wine, water, lemongrass, coriander and parsley in a bowl. Place fish in baking dish and pour mixture over, repeating for second pan.
• Cover with foil and bake at 190c for 25-30 Min's until fish are tender and cooked through.
• Tahini Sauce.
• Blend or Process Tahini ingredients until just combined about a minute.
• Transfer to a pan and heat until sauce thickens and is heated through.
• To Serve pull skin back from one side of fish and using a fork pull fish meat off from top to bottom. You will find it flakes off real easy and you shouldn't end up with many bones in fish meat. Repeat to the other side, place fish meat neatly on plate and pour tahini sauce over. Serve with tempura vegetables with dipping sauce recipe below.
• Vegetables.
• You can use just about any mix of vegetables, above recipe is just a suggestion. This is also the same way to make seafood tempura you can also make this as a starter with a mixture of seafood and vegetables.
• Cut seaweed into 5cm squares, halve the sheet and cut into 2cm-wide strips. Brush strips with water and wrap tightly around noodles in the middle, reserve noodle bunches.
• Mix all the ingredients for the batter together, this should not be a smooth batter, but should have a few lumps of flour in it. It is best made just before beginning to deep fry. Always make with iced or chilled water and never leave batter to sit for to long before using.
• Heat oil to moderately hot 170c in wok or deep pan. Dust chopped vegetables, except seaweed squares, lightly in flour. Dip seaweed squares and other ingredients into batter, drain excess batter, deep fry ingredients, in batches until golden. Drain on absorbent paper. Only fry small amounts at a time to allow for oil to come back to correct temperature before next batch is added.
• Finally deep fry noodle bunches and serve as a garnish.
• Combine all sauce ingredients stir to mix.
• Serve tempura immediately with individual bowls of dipping sauce.
• Recipe for Dashi.
• If you can't get instant dashi here is a recipe for primary dashi. The recipe makes quite a lot but if you make Japanese often it will keep in the fridge for a few days and last in the freezer for a month but it will lose some of it's delicate flavour and aroma.
• 15g dried kelp (konbu).
• 1 litre cold water.
• 15g large smoked dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi).
• Wipe kelp with a damp cloth, cut into 3-4 large pieces. Place kelp in a large saucepan with water, cook uncovered, about 10 Min's or until just about to come to a boil.
• Remove kelp, bring liquid to boil and add another 1/4 cup cold water along with bonito flakes, return just to a boil, remove from heat immediately.
• Strain dashi through a muslin-lined sieve into another pan.

WHOLE BAKED FISH, MOROCCAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Reserving a few sprigs of coriander for garnishing, combine all the ingredients except the fish in an electric blender and mix until smooth. With a sharp knife, make three slashes in the skin. Smear the mixture in the fish cavity and over the skin. Leave to marinate at room temperature for about 2 hours.
• Broil the fish for about 10 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fish, or until cooked. Arrange on a serving platter, garnish with coriander and lemon slices.

WHOLE ROAST FISH BAKED IN SALT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet large enough to hold the snapper.
• Rinse the snapper thoroughly, inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff the cavity with the rosemary, thyme, coriander seeds, and bay leaves.
• On the baking sheet, spread about 1/2 pound of the salt in an even layer that is slightly longer and wider than the snapper. Place the fish on the salt layer and cover completely with the remaining salt.
• Bake until a instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the fish reads 130/, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Brush away as much salt as possible. Using two dessert spoons, remove the top fillets and transfer to a warm plate. Lift off the bones, then transfer the bottom fillets to another plate. Serve immediately, with the extra-virgin olive oil and lemon wedges passed on the side so each diner can season their fish as desired.

BAKED WHOLE FISH ( WITH MICROWAVE METHOD TOO)

Steps:

• Remove the guts and gills from the fish, This is done by making an incision the whole lenght of the abdomen and up to the mouth.
• Grab the gills and pull out, the intesitnes should come out stuck to the gills. If not remove them seperately.
• Unless you are going to eat the skin or you will be placing the fish on a bed of potatoes, LEAVE the scales on. The fish remains much more moist and when the fish is cooked the skin with the scales still attached to it will come off beautifully.
• PREHEAT oven to 200°C.
• Wash the fish inside and out and dry with a paper towel. Season the inside with salt and pepper. Place a a bayleaf, some sage, the crushed garlic clove and rosemary in the cavity.
• Place the fish in a shallow ovenproof dish that has been greased well with olive oil. Season the both exterior sides of the fish.
• Take a small piece of foil and cover the tail so that it won't get burned .
• Chop some sage, rosemary and parsely finely then add 1/2 tsp lemon zest, add a tbsp olive oil to the mixture.
• Drizzle the fish with the juice of half a lemon, then place the herb and olive oil mixture on the fish.
• Bake for 18 minutes for a 600g fish bake it for a further 3 minutes for each 100g extra that it weighs. ( eg: 800g fish= 24 minutes).
• Half way through cooking pour the hot wine on the fish then continue baking, basting a couple of times with the liquid on the bottom of the pan.
• MICROWAVE: Follow all the instructions but do not cover the tail with foil, do not add salt ( season with salt only when cooked) and add the wine from the begining not midway. Cover with microwave safe plastic wrap, make a few holes in the plastic and cook for 8 minutes at 1000W.
• The fish is done when the flesh comes away cleanly from the bone .

BAKED WHOLE FISH WITH POTATOES AND LEMON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Put potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and grease parchment with 1 tablespoon oil. Layer potato slices evenly on parchment; season with salt and pepper. (If using a smaller fish, such as branzino, par-cook the potatoes in the oven for 15 minutes now.) Arrange half of the lemon slices over potatoes and sprinkle with parsley.
• Set fish over potatoes and rub with 2 tablespoons oil; season skin and cavity with salt and pepper. Top with remaining lemon slices and arrange bay leaves over fish. Drizzle with remaining oil. Bake until fish is just cooked through, 40-60 minutes (depending on size). Using a butter knife or metal spatula, flake flesh off the bone and serve immediately.

LEMON AND PARSLEY WHOLE BAKED FISH

Steps:

• Heat your oven to 180c.
• Score the fish through the thicker parts a few times on each side; stuff the garlic slivers into the slits.
• Mix together the parsley, preserved lemon, pinenuts, salt and pepper, then add in the oil to make a paste.
• Smear this paste inside and on the outside of the fish.
• Wrap the fish in a foil parcel and bake in the oven about 30 minutes or until done to 65c. Remove from the oven and allow to rest wrapped in the foil about 5 minutes.
• Serve with the juices spooned over.

BAKED WHOLE FISH WITH TAHINI MARINADE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wipe the fish dry with paper towels.
• Place the tahini, garlic, vegetable oil, soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice and pepper in a food processor and puree until smooth. Mix in the thyme and spread the mixture over the fish, inside and out. Sprinkle with scallions and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the fish is cooked. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

WHOLE BAKED FISH WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 200C/Gas 7. Put the sliced onion, pepper and new potatoes on a large baking tray and drizzle with 1tsp of the oil. Season with a little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Toss the veg together well and spread them out on the tray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly browned and beginning to soften.
• While the vegetables are cooking, make the stuffing for the fish. Put the ciabatta pieces in a large non-stick frying pan and place it over a medium heat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, turning regularly until the chunks of bread are lightly toasted.
• Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into thin strips and finely slice the garlic. Add the pine nuts, garlic and tomatoes to the frying pan and toss together over a low heat for 2 minutes more until the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes. Add the parsley and basil leaves and toss together.
• Working carefully, as some sea bass fins are very spiky, slash the fish diagonally with a knife 4 times down each side. Sprinkle with half the lemon juice, making sure plenty goes into each cut and season with black pepper. Take the tray with the vegetables out of the oven and turn them with a spatula. Push the veg into a heap down the centre of the tin and place the fish on top.
• Open the fish and spoon the bread, tomato and herb filling inside. Don't worry if a few pieces fall on to the tray, but try to keep them close to the fish or they could burn. And remember that the backing tray will be hot, so watch your fingers. Close the fish and drizzle with the remaining lemon juice and the rest of the oil.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fish is just cooked and the filling is hot. Check by sliding a knife into the thickest part of the fish and peering inside - the fish should look white and a little flaky rather than translucent. Serve right away - nothing else needed.

WHOLE BAKED FISH WITH WATERCRESS & CHILLI SALSA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Simmer the potatoes in a large pan of boiling salted water for 5 mins until just tender. Drain and set aside.
• Slash the flesh of the fish three times in a criss-cross pattern on both sides. Rub with the olive oil, then season with sea salt and black pepper. Pop the bashed garlic cloves and lemon slices into the cavity of the fish. Lay the potatoes and all the tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish and season. Lay the fish on top and cook for 20-25 mins, or until the thickest part of the fish is cooked through (the flesh should come away from the bone easily and look opaque). Remove the fish, cover to keep warm and cook the potatoes and tomatoes for 10 mins more.
• To make the salsa, tip the watercress, herbs, chilli and capers into a food processor and pulse to finely chop, drizzling in a bit of the extra virgin olive oil as you do. Mix in the remaining oil, then the garlic and lemon juice, and season to taste. Put the veg on a serving platter, sit the fish on top and drizzle with the salsa to serve.

WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SALT CRUST FROM ÎLE DE RÉ

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together coarse salt, fine salt, flour, thyme and fennel. Add egg whites and mix for 2 to 3 minutes to make a flexible and firm dough; if dough is too dry, add more egg whites one at a time as needed. 2. Roll dough out on parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Put vegetables in the cavity of the fish, and place fish in the center of the dough. Wrap fish entirely with dough, using the edges of the parchment to help lift the dough over the fish. Transfer parchment with encased fish to a shallow baking pan, and tear off excess parchment from around the fish. 3. Bake for 25 minutes. Cut open and remove salt crust from fish. Remove the skin of the fish. Discard crust and skin, fillet the fish and, if desired, serve with a beurre blanc sauce.

WHOLE BAKED FISH CUBAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Rinse the fish well under cold running water and pat dry on both sides as well as inside the cavity. Make several slits about 1/3-inch deep on both sides of the fish. Place the fish in a non-reactive shallow dish or platter and pour the lime juice over the fish. Set aside while you continue with the preparations.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Rub the bottom of a shallow glass or ceramic dish large enough to hold the fish with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Saute 1/2 of the onion slices and 1/2 of the pepper slices in 2 tablespoons olive oil and then place along the bottom of the baking dish. Tear 2 of the bay leaves into small pieces and sprinkle over the vegetables. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons more of the remaining Spanish olive oil and season with salt, black pepper, to taste, and crushed red pepper flakes. Place the fish on top of the sliced vegetables.
• Using a mortar and pestle, combine the garlic, kosher salt and oregano and mash to form a paste. Spread the garlic paste inside the cavity of the fish and into the slits on top. Place the remaining bay leaf inside the cavity of the fish. In the same small bowl that you used to make the garlic paste, combine the tomato puree and vinegar and stir to combine. Pour this tomato mixture all over the fish. Top with the remaining onion and pepper slices and drizzle the remaining olive oil and the wine over the top. Season again with salt and black pepper, cover the dish loosely with aluminum foil, and bake until the fish flakes easily when pierced with a fork, 45 to 50 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve hot or warm, with the pan juices drizzled over all.