A whole fish on the barbecue frightens people and it should not. The two rules are a bone dry skin and a grill you have actually cleaned and oiled. Get those right and it will not stick. The Salt n' Pepper goes on the skin, where the salt pulls out the last of the moisture and the white pepper and MSG turn the outside into something closer to a chip shop than a fish course. Serve it on the board it came off, and let people pull at it.
35 mins. Serves 4.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg Whole snapper, scaled and gutted
- 2 tbsp Plateit Salt n' Pepper 'Spice Bag' Seasoning
- 2 tbsp Neutral oil
- 1 Lemon, sliced
- 4 Spring onions
- Ginger, sliced, a thumb
Method
- Slash the fish three times each side, down to the bone. Pat it bone dry, inside and out, and mean it. Wet skin is the only reason this goes wrong.
- Rub the oil over the skin, then the Plateit Salt n' Pepper 'Spice Bag' Seasoning, working it into the slashes. Lemon, spring onion and ginger into the cavity.
- Barbecue on high, hood down, until the bars are properly hot. Scrape them clean, then oil them with a rag on tongs.
- Fish on. Hood down. 8 to 10 mins without touching it, then one turn with two spatulas and 6 to 8 mins more.
- It is done when the flesh at the thickest part of the slash comes away from the bone. Straight onto a board, rest 5 mins, more seasoning over the top.
Do this: Barramundi, bream and pearl perch all take the same treatment. Anything under a kilo, drop to 6 mins a side.