fish grilling recipe

 

Hello friends,  how has your day been?  It’s been wonderfully hot this season in our kitchen.

So, last week,  I was asked to prepare some fingerfoods,  grilled fishes, fried, diced plantain and Nigerian jollof rice.

I decided I’m not going to sandwich the whole dish but put into different write ups so I can dwell on each extensively.

For this post,  I will be explaining how I marinated and prepared the fish.

By the way,  Fish grilling is the hardest type of protein to grill majorly because of the soft texture of the fish making it to break at the slightest touch.

There is also the issue of descaling and cleaning which can be tedious to do.

This is why many chefs prefer grilling in foil paper as it helps to maintain the shape and structure of the grill However, in my own opinion, it doesn’t really feel like grilled rather like a boiled fish.

Preparing The Fish

The frozen fish (croaker fish) in particular was purchased by me and brought to the kitchen.

The first thing I did was allowing it to defrost, then I removed the scale.

After removing the scale, I cut vertically from the belly and removed the intestines while not forgetting the gills.  After,  the fish is washed and put into a bowl for marination.

         Marinating the fish
Marination can be defined generally as the immersion of protein into different kind of spices to majorly improve the taste of the meat.

Also, Marination can be used for preservation purposes.

Coring

For every protein including fish,  coring is important;  After cleaning, the outer layer of the skin is slashed; this is so that the spices can be absorbed easily into the fish or any other protein.
So,  I cored the fish and immersed in my mixed spices which I will list below.

 

Spices
* Ginger and garlic (Crushed or diced)

* Grounded black and red pepper(mixed)

* Seasonings

* Salt

* Powdered onion(root)

* Curry and little thyme (little because thyme has a strong overpowering aroma)

Other spices you can use are oregano, Sage,
Cumin and coriander,  lemon zest etc

OK,  so after I added the spices and mixed,  I added little oil so the spices and the fish can stick together.

Then,  I covered the plastic and left for 3-5hrs to marinate, some marinates for more hours and leave in the freezer based on the time you have to deliver.  I didn’t have much time.

The Grill

  •         There are many techniques for grilling fish but my favorite is the use of wire net.

I place the wire net on my grill mesh after oiling it with brush  (Oiling your wire mesh or grill mesh and wire net  is very important) and making sure the coal are hot enough and ready. 

  I then lay my fishes (i majorly use this method when I have orders for lots of grilled fishes), cover the fishes with the extension of the wire covering the fish totally and tighty hooking it up.

This is done so I don’t have to touch my fish while grilling.

I change the sides after 15-20mins based on the fish to be grilled. You might brush slightly with oil while it’s on the grill for the colour to come out nicely and for it to be thoroughly done inside.

Then, unlock the net, lift carefully and package or set on a plate and decorate and garnish with lemon, veggies, pepper etc.

After these processes, deliver the mouth watering fishes to your faithful loving customers like I did to mine.

Have a lovely week. Don’t forget to share,  comment or react.  Your questions will be graciously answered. I will appreciate it. Love you!

 

I'm a passionate professional chef. I run a food company called Baker's Cafe. I seek food knowledge and love to dispense it for your benefit alone.