Grilled and Fried Fish Recipes

Chef Cosmo Goss provides some of his favorite grilled and fried fish recipes here. These are part of the Fisherman Chef Cookbook in The Book on Travel Fishing.

FRIED FISH RECIPES

The Perfect Fish Fry

The secret to a good fish fry begins with the breading, or as restaurant pros call it, “the dredge.”  No matter what you call it, this is the mixture that your fish goes into before frying. My personal favorite is a mixture of flour and crushed salt-and-vinegar potato chips. This dredge not only provides excellent flavor but great texture as well. I love this for all types of fish.

Yield: enough for3 to 4 people

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. of fillets cut into 1 to 2 oz. portions
• 1 yellow onion (skin removed and cut into ½-inch rings)
• 4 cups dredge (recipe below)
• 1.5 to 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 lemon cut into wedges
• salt
• 1 to 2 cups spicy tartar sauce (recipe below; or whatever type of dipping sauce you prefer)

Instructions

Pre-heat your deep fryer to 350 degrees. If you’d prefer, you can use a high-sided saucepan in place of a deep fryer. Just fill the pan with a few inches of rice-bran oil (or other high-heat oil). 

Next, soak your fish and onion rings in buttermilk seasoned with salt and pepper for at least 5 minutes. Strain your fish and rings of any excess buttermilk and place the pieces into the dredge.

Now, mix the fish and rings well, making sure to coat them evenly. Fry everything together for 3 to 5 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the fryer or saucepan and shake off any excess oil. Season with salt, and serve with spicy tartar sauce and lemon wedges.

The Dredge

Yield: about 3 cups

• 1.5 cups Wondra flour (if you need to, you can substitute all-purpose flour)
• 2 large bags salt– and– vinegar potato chips
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika

Instructions

Take the chips and mash them into pieces about the size of small breadcrumbs. Using a food processor is easiest, but using your hands and crushing them into a bowl works well too.

Combine the chip and flour mixture with all the other ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to a container with a sealable lid. The mixture should last covered in the pantry for up to 1 month (but do not store dredge mixture once you have placed fish in it).

Spicy Tartar Sauce (You didn’t think we’d have you buy this off the shelf, did you?)

Yield: about 3 cups

• 2 cups Hellmann’s mayonnaise (or Best Foods)
• 3 Tbsp. siracha sauce
• 4 hardboiled eggs (diced)
• 4 Tbsp. dill (chopped)
• 4 Tbsp. capers (rinsed and chopped)
• 4 Tbsp. dill pickles (strained of excess liquid and chopped)
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

Whisk everything together in a bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sauce should stay good in the fridge for up to 1 week.

CHEF COSMO’S WHOLE FRIED FISH

Crispy fried fish skin is tricky. When you get it right, however, there are few things that are more delicious. I like cooking our whole fish this way. I first had it first while traveling in Asia and have since enjoyed it in many Cantonese seafood restaurants. The skin and outer part is crispy, and the inner meat is perfectly cooked and flakey. For your first time or two, the result might not be as good as the restaurants (it can be tricky). But don’t give up; with a bit of practice, you’ll be turning out whole fried fish (we like to use snapper) that are as impressive on the plate as they are delicious. This in and of itself is a great reason to keep fishing—and frying!

The Perfect Whole Fried Fish

Yield: enough for 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 2 to 2 1/2 lbs. whole snapper (guts, scales, and gills removed)
• cornstarch (seasoned with salt)
• rice-bran oil (or other high-heat oil)
• sauce(recipe below)

Instructions

1. This recipe is best cooked in a deep fryer, but if you don’t have one, any high-sided pot or pan that can fit the fish will work too.

• Take the fish and score each side of the fillet down to the bones. Your cuts should be in the form of 1-inch stripes in a crosshatch pattern.

• Using paper towels pat the fish dry. Next, season with salt, and coat the entire fish with cornstarch. DO NOT shake off the excess cornstarch; you want as much to adhere to the fish as you can. The more cornstarch that sticks to the fish, the crispier and more flakey your fish will turn out.

• Now, heat the fryer to 325 to 330 degrees. If using a pan on the stove, heat over medium heat until the oil reaches the right temperature. You can buy a handheld food thermometer for around $25 that will help you get the temperature right.

• Place the fish in the oil making sure all the fillet meat is covered; if a little head or tail are sticking out, that’s OK. If using a pan, you’ll want to make sure the fish is covered halfway with oil. 

• Fry for about 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. If cooking in a pan, cook for about 5 to 7 minutes per side. The easiest way to check if it’s done without cracking it open is to stick a small knife in the top of the fish right behind the gill plate for a few seconds and remove it. If the knife tip is hot, the fish should be cooked all the way through.

• Remove the fish and place onto paper towels to let any excess oil drip off.

Whole Fried Snapper Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. masaman curry paste
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 4 cups fingerling potatoes (boiled and cut into bite-sized pieces)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup cilantro (chopped)
• 1 jalapeño (cut into thin rings, seeds removed)
• lime cut into wedges

Instructions

1. You’ll want to start your sauce while the fish is cooking, or even while it’s cooling down a little bit from the fryer. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the olive oil until it’s almost smoking. Add the curry paste and stir often until it is dark red and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then add the coconut milk and potatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer for about 3 to 5 minutes until the sauce is mixed well and the potatoes are warm and tender.

• Add the butter and remove from the heat. Mix until the butter is completely melted, then season the sauce with lime juice and salt.

• For the final step, pour the sauce onto a large serving platter and place the fish on top. Garnish with the jalapeño and cilantro leaves.
• Serve with lime wedges. Sure, you can use a fork to eat this dish, but we always like using our hands to tear chunks of fish off and dip them in the sauce.

PAN-FRIED FISH

Pan-fried fish is the easiest of the three methods. Here, the trick involves a hot pan and hot oil and just making sure the fish doesn’t stick to the pan. For this version, you’ll need a pan that is oven safe (without plastic or rubber handles). While you could simply fry fish in a pan, we always like to add our twist to things so for this method, we remove the skin from the fish (we love using sea bass) and add a “skin” of breadcrumbs to the fish fillet. I love the texture, but the breadcrumb layer also allows you to cook the fish at a lower temperature without it sticking to the pan (well, almost never).

The Perfect Pan-Fried Fish

Yield: enough for 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 5 oz. sea bass fish fillets (skin removed)
• rice-bran oil (or other high-heat oil)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg (whisked with 1 Tbsp. water)
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (run in food processor until very fine)
• 4 cups shishito pepper
• 2 cups arugula
• 3 Tbsp. red onion (slivered)
• salt
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add enough rice-bran oil so it coats the pan in a thin layer.

• Set up a breading station with the flour, eggs, and panko in separate bowls. Place the largest, flattest side of the fish fillets into the flour making sure it’s just coating one side of the fish. Next, place the other side (the one without the flour coating) into the egg mixture, then into the panko.

• Place the breaded side down in the pan. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes until the breaded side is golden brown; flip and place the pan in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes to finish cooking. Remove the pan from the oven and place it back on the stove over medium-high heat. Remove the fish, and set it aside.

• Add a little more oil to the pan, then add the peppers. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes until the peppers start to blister and become tender. Finally, squeeze one half of the lemon into the pan and mix the peppers around.

• Place the fish onto a serving tray and top each fillet with a dollop of lemon mayonnaise. Then spread the peppers evenly over the fish.

• In mixing bowl combine the arugula and red onion, then squeeze the remaining lemon over the top. Add olive oil and salt to taste . Spread the salad over the top of the fish and serve. You can serve the fish with a couple of lemon wedges, if desired.

GRILLED FISH RECIPES

The Perfect Grilled “Mayo Marinated” Fish Fillet with Peaches and Salsa Verde

Yield: enough for 4 people

Ingredients

• 4  5 to 6 oz fish fillets (We love using salmon for this, but it also works well with amberjack.)
• 1/2 cup Hellmann’s or Best Foods mayonnaise
• 4 Tbsp. salsa verde (recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp. “salsa verde” herbs (equal parts mint, chives, and cilantro), finely chopped
• 1 or 2 ripe peaches cut into 8ths (you may need two depending on size)
• 1 lemon [MM11] 
• sea salt

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the grill to that magical medium-high heat. 

• Season the fillets with salt, and coat each piece with the mayonnaise.

• Let the fillets sit for about 10 minutes before cooking. We rub the fillets with mayo to get a nice caramelized flavor on the fish. It also adds some fat and keeps the fish moist and juicy. This technique can be used with almost any fish.

• Place the fillets on the grill and cook for about 2 to 4 minutes per side. (If you’re grilling salmon, you want the center of the fillet to be rare and cool to the touch. If you overcook salmon, the fish can become dry (so it’s best to stick to medium-rare to medium. If using another fish cook the fish to desired doneness.)

•  While the fish is grilling, mix together the salsa verde, herbs, and cut peaches in a small bowl. Season with salt and set aside.

•  Once the fish is done cooking, remove it from the grill and squeeze the lemon evenly over each fillet.

• Place the fish on the serving platter and spread the peach and salsa verde salad over the fillets and serve. This dish is great served warm or at room temperature. If you are cooking other things for your lunch or dinner you can plate, this and finish some other tasks before eating. 

Salsa Verde

Yield: 1 cup

• 4 shallots (minced)
• 2 Tbsp. capers (rinsed and chopped)
• 5 brown anchovy fillets (rinsed, patted dry, and chopped)
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar (you can substitute white wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 small jalapeño (stemmed, seeded, and minced; with ribs removed)
• sea salt

Instructions

Mix the shallots, capers, anchovies, vinegar, oil, honey, jalapeño, and salt in a bowl. The salsa will keep covered, in the fridge for about 1 week.

The Perfect Grilled Whole Fish with Cherry Tomatoes and Spicy Lemon Vinaigrette

Yield: enough for 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 whole fish in the neighborhood of 1.5 lbs. (We love using snapper.)
• 1 cup Sungold [MM13] cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
• 1/4 cup red onion (rinsed and slivered)
• 1 Tbsp. parsley (chopped)
• 1 Tbsp. chives (chopped)
• 1Tbsp. cilantro (chopped)
• 3/4 cup spicy lemon dressing (recipe below)
• 1 lemon cut in half
• rice-bran oil (or other high-heat oil)

Instructions

1. Remove the guts and gills from the fish.

• Using a sharp knife, make three vertical cuts along the fish fillet. Each cut should go all the way down to the backbone.

• Season the fish with salt, pepper and a small layer of rice bran oil.

• Let the fish sit and come to room temperature. This will help with evenly cooking the fish.

• Heat the grill to medium-high heat.

• Grill the fish for about 4-6 minutes per side. While the fish is cooking, it’s important to keep the grill at a constant temperature. If you’re using wood or charcoal, it will be necessary to tend to the grill during the entire cooking process.  The easiest way to tell if your whole grilled fish is done is to stick a small, sharp knife into the top of the fish’s “neck” just behind the gill plate. If the tip comes out nice and hot, the fish should be fully cooked.

• Once cooked, remove the fish from the grill and transfer to the serving tray.

• In a bowl toss the herbs, spicy lemon vinaigrette and red onion.  Season with salt and pepper and taste. Spread the salad over the fish and serve with cut lemons.

Spicy Lemon Vinaigrette

Yield about 2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 shallot (minced)
• 2 lemons (juice and zest)
• 3 Tsp. rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tsp. sugar
• 3 Tsp. fish sauce
• 4 Tsp. chile flakes
• 1 1/4 cup grape seed oil
• salt

Instructions

1. In a blender place everything except the lemon zest and oil. Run the blender on high until everything is blended well.

• Turn the blender to medium and slowly add the oil.

• Season with salt. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk the zest in. You don’t want to add the zest to the blender as blending lemon zest will make the dressing bitter.