Fun Friday: Cooking A Whole Fish

This week's Fun Friday involved checking an item off my bucket list. I grilled a whole fish. Why grilling a whole fish was even on my bucket list, I can't say, but it's something I felt compelled to do. 

Our niece was in town for her annual visit and tradition dictates that we assemble and cook a full meal for Blair. The first item on our grocery list: track down a whole fish. 

Easier said then done. We visited Earth Fare and Fresh Market, but everything there was already filleted. Do we look like sissies? No! A whole fish it must be. 

Our search led us to Dong Huong Fresh Fish Market on Spring Garden Street. If you're local and any sort of a foodie, you MUST visit this store. So many unique ingredients and the owners are a delight. We walked in and the man said, "You looking for da fish?" and whipped back a thick blanket covering a long freezer full of fresh fish. We decided on the red snapper and--because okay, we are sissies-asked the owner to scale and gut the fish for us. 

Katlin shows off her knife workOnce home, the fun began. We made deep cuts in the fish ("we" meaning I handed the knife to my niece and said, "Have at it,") and stuffed it with lime and cumin. Then we oiled the grill and the fish, turned up the heat, and got busy. 

Side note: No matter how well you oil the grill and fish, fish skin sticks. Just sayin...

We added some coconut-soaked grilled kale as a side dish and served it up. DELICIOUS. The fish was tender and flaky and everything I hoped it would be. However, there were a lot of bones to deal with, which was a deal breaker for Blair. His vote for my next fish dish: No bones.

No problem. Now that I've gotten the whole fish thing out of my system, I'm fine ordering up some boneless fillets. 

And the fun Friday's continue on...

Cheers,

Dena