Now that I live in NorCal I don't get a chance to get out on the ocean for "fun" fishing as much as I used to in San Diego. The thing I miss the most about it, the fresh fish to bring home to grill up. In San Diego I regularly had freshly caught tuna, yellowtail, or ono (wahoo) at my fingertips to create a delicious grilled seafood masterpiece. Nowadays that is rarely the case but I do come across the occasional striped bass when out on the bay or delta in between my regular freshwater bass tournaments.
Just last week I decided to take one of these striped bass home for a little fresh fish dinner. People often get intimidated by grilling fish but it's simple as long as you remember a few key rules.
1. Get a fresh fish. It shouldn't smell fishy and if buying whole look for nice clear eyes.
2. Keep your grill clean, hot, and oiled up. This rule can be applied to many other things in life as well, I'll let you use your imagination :)
3. Don't move the fish until its ready! Don't do the classic grilling fidget where you wanna peek to see if it's sticking. If you think its going to stick it probably is, so let it form a nice crisp crust and your sticking to the grill problems will be a thing of the past.
Ok, now for the fish. This particular "striper", as they are known in the fishing world, was literally swimming two hours before it hit my grill. This one weighed a few pounds after cleaned and I decided to cook it whole, skin on and scaled. For this particular recipe I went the propane route, using my
Infared Charbroil grill, that will crank out an amazing amount of surface heat that will help when cooking a "skin on" fish. When grilling fish keep it simple, especially with a milder white fish like a striped bass.
Rub some olive oil on the outer skin of the fish and season with salt and pepper. Cut diagonal slits about a 1/2 inch deep into the flesh. This will help the heat penetrate the fish and keep the fish from wanting to curl up as the skin crisps. For some flavor I cut up some slices of lemon, onion, and fennel tops and stuffed them into the body cavity of the bass. Simple as that.
Over a medium-high heat place the whole bass gently on your grill and cook for about 7-8 minutes on one side. Remember NO PEEKING!!! Use a spatula and tongs to then flip the fish over without scraping under the fish so that the skin will stay intact and repeat cooking the other side for another 7-8 minutes. cooking the fish whole will keep it ridiculously moist and add even more flavor. Simple as that!
Enjoy this bass with a nice amber ale that has some good floral
flavors but also a little bit of bitterness. Try one of my San Diego favs,
Ballast Point's Calico Amber Ale. Can beat pairing a bass recipe
with a beer named after a bass right?
CHEERS to the Striper (not stripper)!!!
