Serves: 2–4, dependent on fish size
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Works well with: Cape Bream, Silver, any Fish With A Story
Occasion: Easy weekday
Ingredients
Whole Fish With A Story
1 cup butter, softened
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 lemon
handful of herbs of choice, chopped
chilli, optional
salt & black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Remove some butter from the fridge to soften.
- Place the whole fish on a lined baking tray
- Score the skin at an angle in lines about 3 cm apart, cutting into the flesh (about 1 cm deep).
- Crush the garlic with sea salt to form a paste.
- Finely chop herbs of choice, zest some lemon, finely chop some chilli (optional), and add these ingredients to the butter along with some salt, black pepper and lemon juice. Mix to combine.
- Spoon and smear this flavoured butter into the incisions in the fish, filling them with the butter. Pour the remains inside the fish cavity.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes until golden and cooked through. The fish flesh should be white and flake away from the bones when done.
- Allow the fish to rest for a few minutes, then serve the fillets by gently removing the top section of flesh off the bones and placing it on a serving platter.
- Top with salad (watch the video above for full recipe).
Chef's tips: Reserve the bones and head of the fish to make some fish stock. This baked fish will go great with a side of roast fennel. Also, save some fish for home-made fishcakes tomorrow – see recipe here.
Fish With A Story is powered by ABALOBI – a South African-based, global social enterprise seeking to elevate small-scale fishing communities through the joint development of Technology For Good.
