Grilled Whole Red Snapper with Lemongrass Vinaigrette
Easter wasn’t all eggs, bunnies and chicks this year. A whole red snapper made it’s way into our Easter baskets. After inhaling a post-church brunch, and aggressively snacking on jelly beans, chocolate, and Peeps all afternoon, we wanted to make something light and healthy for dinner.
The weather was cooperating so we decided to stuff and grill a whole fish. The sun was still out so there was no reason to come inside off the deck until the first pitch of the Red Sox Game of course.
There are positives and negatives to buying a whole fish. First of all it’s extremely cost efficient, just like buying anything whole or “in bulk”.
Secondly, when you cook a fish whole, it’s very hard to overcook it. The skin and bones keep all the moisture and flavor inside resulting in succulent and flavorful seafood.
You also have to have patience to eat a whole fish (which typically I don’t). If you try to scarf the whole thing down you’re going to end up with a few bones stuck in your throat. In my opinion, the slow, precision of pulling the meat out from in between the rib cage with your fork only makes the meat taste better. Very similarly to eating a lobster… the food tastes better when you have to work for it.
The downside to eating a whole fish is based on presentation. Most people get grossed out by scales, fins, and of course eyeballs.
Personally, I think the presentation is awesome and the eyeballs are delicious when charred. I had the fish monger do most of the work, by slicing the abdomen and scaling the fish before I picked it up. After rubbing down the outside down with olive oil, I stuffed it with garlic, chilies, lemongrass, ginger, cilantro and slices of lime. When the fish hits the grill, the aromatic oils in all of the ingredients permeate throughout the entire fish.
I made a vinaigrette to spoon over the finished product using the same ingredients all pulsed together in the blender. After the skin was nice and crispy on one side, I had to work magic to get this thing to flip over. After losing some arm hair to the flames, I finally managed and successfully kept the fish in tact.
I served it on top of some marinated zucchini carpaccio, that I thinly sliced and drizzled with olive oil and fresh lime juice. On the side, I tossed some yellow wax beans in some Thai red chili paste and sprinkled them with sesame seeds. Koreans like to dress vegetables with sesame seeds and flaming hot chili paste, but this store bought paste was very tame; unlike my twist on a Corona.
There’s nothing better than an ice cold Corona with a lime on a scorching hot day on the deck. I added a kick to mine by slicing a Serrano chili in half and inserting it into the bottle before my lime wedge. Sip after sip gets progressively hotter but still refreshing to say the least.
The ice cold beer with a touch of heat was perfect with the moist snapper that was loaded with lemony-citrus vinaigrette. It was a great way to cap off a wonderful Easter holiday; it only would have been better if we were seated at Fenway Park watching the Sox beat the Yankees but I don’t think they serve Grilled Red Snapper at Fenway.
