GRILLED WHOLE SEA BREAM WITH CHILE GLAZE

Grilled Whole Sea Bream with Chile Glaze image

To make sure the fish doesn't stick to the grill, it's cooked in a metal grilling basket. You can use a fish-grilling basket or an adjustable or flexible grilling basket. The key is to use a basket that keeps the fish secure without smashing it. Look for grilling baskets at housewares and kitchen supply stores and online at cooking.com.

Provided by Francine Maroukian

Yield Makes 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

6 guajillo chiles (about 1 ounce)
2 large dried ancho chiles
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 1/2 tablespoons dark agave nectar (preferably organic)
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup grapefruit juice
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro plus additional for garnish
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-pound whole sea bream, striped bass, or wild-caught rainbow snapper, cleaned, scaled, gutted (1 to 1 1/4 pounds after prep)
Cayenne pepper
Ingredient info: Guajillos are maroon-colored, fairly hot chiles about 11/2 inches wide and up to 6 inches long. They are available at some supermarkets and at Latin markets. Ancho chiles are sold at many supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Latin markets. Fish sauce can be found in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets, at some specialty foods stores, and at Asian markets.
Large grilling basket

Steps:

Toast guajillo and ancho chiles in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until slightly darker in color, 1 to 2 minutes per side for guajillo chiles and about 3 minutes per side for ancho chiles. Using tongs, carefully transfer toasted chiles to sheet of foil and cool. Remove stems and seeds from all chiles, then crumble chiles finely into small bowl.
Sprinkle sugar over bottom of heavy large saucepan. Cook over medium heat without stirring, occasionally swirling and tilting pan, until sugar dissolves and becomes medium golden brown syrup, 7 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat. Add chopped garlic and stir 20 seconds. Mix in agave nectar and crumbled chiles; stir 1 minute. Add all citrus juices. Bring mixture to boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until glaze thickens enough to coat spoon, about 20 minutes. Strain glaze into small microwave-safe bowl, pressing hard on chile solids to release all liquid. Discard solids in strainer. Mix in fish sauce. Season glaze to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Glaze can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Rewarm glaze in microwave before continuing.
Mix 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro into glaze.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Coat inside of large grilling basket with nonstick spray. Wipe fish dry inside and out. Score each side of fish 3 times, cutting to bone. Sprinkle fish inside and out with salt and cayenne.
Place fish in basket; place on grill rack. Close grill and cook 6 minutes. Turn basket and brush 2 tablespoons glaze over fish, opening basket if necessary and closing again. Cover grill. Cook fish until just opaque in center, about 7 minutes.
Turn fish out onto platter. Brush 2 tablespoons glaze over. Top with cilantro.