Best Crispy Whole Red Snapper With Charred Jalapeno Basil Vinaigrette Recipes

CRUMB-COATED RED SNAPPER

Steps:

• In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, lemon pepper and salt; add fillets, one at a time, and turn to coat., In a heavy skillet over medium heat, cook fillets in oil, in batches, until fish just begins to flake easily with a fork, 4-5 minutes on each side.

CRISPY RED SNAPPER "CHINESE STYLE"

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Put the soy sauce, fish sauce, plum wine, sugar, garlic, jalapeno, ginger, lemongrass, and water in a bowl and stir together; set aside.
• While you make the vegetables, pour enough oil to submerge the snapper into a wide, deep, heavy-bottomed pot. You will need at least a quart, depending on the width of the pot and the thickness of the fish. Heat the pot over medium-high heat to 370 degrees F.
• Make the vegetables: Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced ginger and sausage and cook until the sausage begins to give off its fat, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to give off their liquid, adding more oil if necessary. Add the tomatoes, scallions, carrot, leek, and chile, and cook until just soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and keep the vegetables warm.
• Fry the fish: Score the snapper 4 times from top to belly, starting about 3 inches behind the head and making the last slash about 2 inches from the tail; take care not to cut into the flesh. When the oil is almost hot enough, dredge the snapper in the flour, shaking off any excess. Skewer the fish from head to tail with a metal skewer, curving the fish as needed. Slowly carefully add the fish to the pot and fry until cooked through and moist at the bone on the head end, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
• To serve: Spread some sauce onto a fish platter and place the fish on top; spoon the vegetables over the fish. Present at the table, cutting individual portions there, and garnishing with pea sprouts. Serve the extra sauce on the side.

BAKED WHOLE RED SNAPPER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Clean red snapper inside and out under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels.
• Brush grapeseed oil all over the inside and outside of the fish, and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning on all sides. Insert garlic cloves, citrus slices, and thyme sprigs into the cavity of the fish. Set on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes, depending on size of the fish.

MOIST ROASTED WHOLE RED SNAPPER WITH TOMATOES, BASIL AND OREGANO

Steps:

• Stuff and cook the snapper: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. If the fins are still on the fish, use kitchen scissors to cut them off (they just fall apart when cooked). Sprinkle both the inside and the outside of the fish liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, whole basil leaves, oregano sprigs, garlic and lemon slices.
• Using a very large (14-inch) saute pan or a small roasting pan (oven safe) heat about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add the fish and cook until well browned on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the fish over-use a large spatula and grab the tail if it's not too hot-and cook on the other side until well browned, about 2 minutes. Take the fish out of the pan and use wadded paper towels to wipe the pan clean of the oil.
• Cook the vegetables: Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, a pinch of red pepper flakes, the tomatoes, potatoes, chopped oregano and a pinch of salt and cook until the tomatoes begin to lose some of their liquid, about 3 minutes. Return the fish to the pan, laying it on top of the vegetables and drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over it. Add the chicken broth to the pan and squeeze the remaining lemon half into the sauce in the pan. Cook on the stove another 3 to 4 minutes, basting the fish with the sauce and moving some of the tomatoes and potatoes in the pan on top of the fish.
• Finish cooking the fish in the oven safe pan in the oven 18 to 19 minutes. (To check for doneness, push the head down gently in the area between the nose and the top of the head; when the head easily moves away from the back of the neck, it is ready.)
• To serve: Remove the fish from the oven and carefully transfer it to a sided platter, pouring any liquid in its cavity back into the pan, and keep the fish warm. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat and cook the sauce and vegetables for a minute or two to concentrate the flavors. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, the chopped basil and season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Pour the sauce and vegetables over the fish and serve, using a large spoon to remove servings off the fish. (Don't forget to turn it over to eat off the other side!)

RED SNAPPER WITH BASIL VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Preheat broiler and oil a large shallow baking pan (1 inch deep).
• Season fish all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then put, skin sides down, in baking pan. Drizzle fillets with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon oil (total).
• Broil fish 6 inches from heat until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
• While fish broils, whisk together remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl, then add remaining 5 tablespoons oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified. Stir in basil and spoon vinaigrette over cooked fish.