Recipe by Jodie Smith

Barbecued Whole Snapper With Preserved Lemon Marinade

Name: Barbecued Whole Snapper With Preserved Lemon Marinade
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4

Serves4 people

Prep15 min

Cook25 min

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Ottolenghi Preserved Lemon Marinade (260g)

$22.95

Hand-packed and dispatched from our Corio, Victoria warehouse, with free delivery Australia-wide on orders over $100.

A whole snapper, scored to the bone and rubbed inside and out with preserved lemon marinade, cooked on a covered barbecue for about 25 minutes. Serves 4. Prep 15 minutes, cook 25, rest 5. Three tablespoons of the jar does a whole fish.

Bottle of Ottolenghi Preserved Lemon Marinade 260g, the tangy citrus paste with thyme and garlic used on this barbecued snapper

Ingredients

Serves 4. Prep 15 minutes, cook 25, rest 5. We stock the pantry half of this list. The snapper, the lemons and the herbs are a fishmonger and greengrocer job, and the fish is the only expensive thing on it.

For the fish
1	whole snapper, 1.2kg to 1.5kg, scaled and gutted, fins trimmed
3 tbsp	Ottolenghi Preserved Lemon Marinade, about a fifth of the jar
2 tbsp	Kangaroo Island extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp	Kangaroo Island chilli garlic salt flakes
1	lemon, half sliced into rounds, half cut into wedges
1 small bunch	flat leaf parsley and dill, stalks and all
	black pepper
To serve
100g	Kangaroo Island Mediterranean olives, drained
2 tbsp	Ottolenghi orange marmalade dressing
1	fennel bulb, shaved very thin, or a bag of rocket
	flatbread or boiled chat potatoes

How much marinade, and what to use instead

Three tablespoons covers a 1.5kg fish with enough left to push into the cavity. Go to four if the fish is closer to 2kg, and no further: the paste is salted, and past that point the skin tastes of seasoning rather than of fish. If the jar is empty, chop the skin of two Belazu preserved lemons very finely, rinse it first, and mix it with olive oil, crushed garlic and thyme. For a version with heat, Ottolenghi rose, pomegranate and preserved lemon harissa carries the same citrus with chilli behind it. Both sit with the pastes in our gourmet condiments range.

Why a jar of marinade holds on to a hot grill

Most homemade fish marinades are lemon juice, oil and herbs, which is to say mostly liquid. On a barbecue that liquid runs off the fish, hits the bars, and burns before it has flavoured anything. The Ottolenghi preserved lemon marinade is a paste, not a pour. The label calls it a tangy citrus paste with thyme and garlic, and it has the thickness of a loose pesto, so it stays where you put it and keeps working through the cook. Rub it into the scores and it seasons the flesh at depth rather than glazing the skin. It is the same jar the preserved lemon marinade guide covers for chicken and roast vegetables, and it sits with the rest of the Ottolenghi range.

The two things that make whole fish stick

Fish sticks for one of two reasons, and neither is the fish. The first is a cool grill: protein bonds to warm metal and releases from hot metal, so the bars need a full 10 minutes of preheating before anything touches them. The second is moving it early. A whole snapper needs eight to ten minutes on the first side before the skin firms and lets go on its own. Push a spatula under it at four minutes and the skin stays on the barbecue. Pat the fish dry with paper towel, oil the fish rather than the bars, and then leave it alone. A hinged fish basket makes the turn easier and is worth owning if you cook whole fish more than twice a summer.

Method

Take the snapper out of the fridge 30 minutes before you cook it. A fridge-cold fish cooks unevenly and the skin sticks harder.
Pat the fish completely dry, inside and out, with paper towel. Dry skin is the whole trick.
Score the thickest part of each side three times, cutting on the diagonal down to the bone.
Rub the marinade over both sides and work a spoonful into each score and into the cavity. Season with the chilli garlic salt flakes and black pepper.
Stuff the cavity with the lemon rounds and the herbs, stalks included. Rub the olive oil over the outside last, so the fish is oiled rather than the barbecue.
Heat the barbecue to a steady medium high with the lid down, about 200C, and give the bars a full 10 minutes to come up to temperature. Scrape them clean.
Lay the fish down and close the lid. Leave it for 10 minutes without touching it.
Slide a wide spatula under the head end and turn the fish in one movement. Close the lid and give it 10 to 12 minutes more.
Check it. The flesh at the thickest point should be opaque all the way to the bone and should lift away from it cleanly with a fork. A skewer pushed into the shoulder should meet no resistance.
Move the fish to a warm platter and rest it for 5 minutes. Toss the fennel or rocket with the olives and the orange marmalade dressing, and serve with the lemon wedges.

Make ahead, leftovers and the rest of the jar

The fish can be scored, rubbed and stuffed up to four hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Longer than that and the salt in the paste starts to cure the flesh at the edges, which firms it in a way you do not want. Bring it back to room temperature before it goes on.

Leftover snapper is better cold than reheated. Flake it off the bone while it is still warm, discard the skin, and keep it in a covered container for two days. It makes a good lunch tossed through cold potatoes with more of the orange dressing, or piled onto flatbread with the olives and a spoon of yoghurt. The carcass is worth 20 minutes of simmering with an onion for a light stock.

Once opened the marinade lives in the fridge and holds for about six weeks. Use a dry spoon, keep the surface flat, and stir any separated oil back through. It is the same jar behind our chicken tagine with preserved lemons, and if the barbecue is not an option this year, our whole baked salmon with chilli jam glaze is the oven version of the same idea.

Common questions

What size snapper feeds four people?

A whole snapper between 1.2kg and 1.5kg feeds four as a main course, because a whole fish loses roughly half its weight to head, frame and skin. If the fish is going on a table with salads, prawns and bread, the same size stretches to six. Two smaller fish of about 800g each cook faster, around 8 minutes a side, and are easier to turn than one big one.

How do you stop whole fish sticking to the barbecue?

Dry the skin thoroughly, oil the fish instead of the grill, preheat the bars for a full 10 minutes, and do not move the fish for the first 10 minutes of cooking. Skin releases itself when it has crisped, so anything that lifts cleanly was ready and anything that tears was not. A hinged fish basket removes the problem entirely and is the answer if you are cooking for a crowd.

Can I cook this in the oven instead?

Yes. Sit the marinated fish on a lined tray and roast at 200C, or 180C fan-forced, for 25 to 30 minutes for a 1.5kg fish. You lose the smoke and the blistered skin, and you gain a much easier evening. Give it 5 minutes under the grill at the end if you want colour on the top.

The marinade, the olive oil and the olives all sit in our olive oil and vinegars and condiment ranges, and the summer table they belong on is in festive entertaining essentials. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.