Asian-Style Baked Rockfish
Do you guys ever have those kind of weeks that sort of disappear before your eyes? And you barely remember any of it–but it also feels like it was a billion days long? Yeah…that was last week for me.
Between launching the new blog design (and manually re-entering every.single.recipe within the span of three days–oof, I never want to have to do that again) and a very busy week at work, I barely could keep my eyes open last week.
Let alone piece together coherent sentences for you.
Don’t worry. I have a good feeling about this week. This past weekend, I went to bed before 10:30 pm both nights and that hasn’t happened in months. Possibly a year? That means I’ve been sleeping for more than 10 hours a night…for two nights in a row. The Grammy’s have already ruined the streak for me, but I tried. Really, I did.
On that note, what do those Daft Punk guys look like? You know, without the strange helmets on? Even Google doesn’t know.
Since I’m sure I’m not the only one who stayed up a little bit too late watching TV last night, I’m here to help. How about an easy weeknight dinner idea? Like this Asian-style baked rockfish.
Dishes that call for cooking an entire fish (bones and all) sound extremely intimidating, I know. But they are actually incredibly simple.
Simple and flavorful.
Trust me though, it is actually much easier to cook an entire fish well, than it is to cook a perfect fillet of fish on its own. Whole fish are much more forgiving.
The hardest part involves figuring out how to serve it–but I found this video, which will hopefully get the idea and method across. Plus, since this is a weeknight dinner, don’t feel any pressure. No one is going to care if it’s not perfectly plated or picture perfect. If they do, just remind them that you made them dinner. That should take care of it.
And let’s be honest. Nothing is prettier than a whole-baked fish anyway.
This one is flavored with all of my favorite go-to Asian ingredients: sesame oil, fresh lime slices, soy sauce, red pepper powder (gochugaru), julienned carrots and ginger, garlic, and lots of cilantro.
Ask your fish monger to scale and gut the fish for you. Then, it is just a matter of stuffing the cavity with cilantro and lime, sprinkling on the remaining of the ingredients, and letting it bake in an aluminum tent for 30-45 minutes tops.
My favorite way to serve it is alongside hot sushi (or brown) rice, a sprinkling of lime juice, cilantro, a drizzling of soy sauce, and crushed peanuts. Couldn’t be easier!
Asian-Style Baked Rockfish
Ingredients:
- 2.5 – 3 lb whole rockfish, scaled and gutted (or substitute sea bass or red snapper)
- salt
- pepper
- 3 scallions, finely sliced on a diagonal
- 1 lime, thinly sliced
- 1 whole carrot, peeled and finely julienned
- 1.5 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely julienned
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- handful of fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon Korean red pepper powder (gochugaru)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place the gutted and scaled rockfish on top of the aluminum foil. Rub skin and cavity with coarse salt and season with pepper.
- Stuff the cavity with the lime slices–and half of the cilantro leaves.
- Sprinkle the top of the fish with the carrot, ginger, garlic, and remaining cilantro. In separate bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper powder. Pour sauce evenly over the fish.
- Top the fish with another large sheet of aluminum foil–bringing the edges of both pieces together to fold and seal in the fish.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the top piece of foil and continue to cook, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
- Serve the fish immediately (use these serving tips) with sushi or brown rice, fresh lime wedges, soy sauce, cilantro, and crushed peanuts.
Feel free to substitute with a larger or smaller fish and adjust cooking time accordingly–but allow roughly one pound or more of fish per serving.
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I haven’t cooked a whole fish in ages…I should do it soon.
Not since the salt bake fail? I still need to try that.
Um, yeah I hear you. The past few weeks have been a blur, super tiring and things are even crazier right now, but I am so happy you had a good weekend and got some sleep!
Loving these Thai flavors. I actually had a whole Thai post ready to go for today, but then the site crashed and things happened to make that Thai dish disappear. It’s a long story, but the point is that I am loving all things Thai and this fish is just gorgeous! Great recipe, Laura!
I think the entire month of January is doomed from the beginning, especially with the recovery from the holidays. Oh no!!! Hope we get a chance to see the Thai recipe post soon, absolutely hate when that happens. Thanks Tieghan!
Sorry to hear you had such a tiring week, but if it makes you feel any better, I’d say that your new template looks gorgeous!
Just like this fish! I’m a sucker for Asian style anything, and I’ve always wanted to cook a whole fish, so you bet this is being my dinner soon.
Hope you have a more relaxing and fantastic week! <3
So glad you like the new design! And thanks–this weekend definitely helped me recover. Let me know if you try it!
I’ve only done it a handful of times, but every time I cook a whole fish I start out feeling nervous and a little intimidated, and once I get going I always remember how easy it is. This sounds absolutely amazing, and your photos are stunning. Pinned!
Thank you Kelli! It always kind of forget about this kind of meal–but it really is so easy. There’s basically no prep time 🙂
You’re right, nothing is prettier than a whole roasted fish, and this one looks restaurant worthy. So beautiful and love the Asian flavors.
You’re too sweet–as always. Thank you Nicole!!
We stayed up too late last night doing annoying wedding budget stuff…but that’s another story for another day. I think whole-baked fish looks gorgeous! At least, yours does!
Oh man, don’t remind me of wedding stuff. I’ve done practically nothing–it gives me anxiety!!!
It always feels so good to get a good night’s rest. My husband would go nuts for this fish. I’m going to have to send him out for rockfish.
Yes, and yes 🙂
Beautiful photos of a beautiful dish! I absolutely love cooking a whole fish. You get to enjoy the whole fish (bones and all), including the extra special nubs of meat!
My favorite part (and my grandma’s) is the cheek: the meat is so tender and rich. Best part, by far – if you haven’t try it you must next time!
Oh my god—YES!!! The cheeks are the best part. I immediately took dibs on that and wouldn’t let Connor near them.
Hi Laura,
I saw these photos days ago but have been remiss in my comment! I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of these photos, not to mention the recipe and the flavors! You should blow these photos up and mount them on the kitchen wall. Sorry about all the work reentering the recipes, however the whole blog looks and works beautifully! Hope you are getting some sleep this week!
Does Conner know how lucky he is? Miss you!
I have rockfish filets, how would I adapt this recipe?
Hi Dawn! Sorry I can’t be more helpful–I haven’t tried it with rockfish filets (only the whole fish, which adds a lot of flavor and definitely changes cooking time/technique). My only advice would be to try it in a papillote (parchment sleeve)–and experiment! Filets would only take about 10 minutes tops at this temperature though! Again, sorry I can’t be more specific!
I love your style! I would be willing to help you type recipes and photo them. I am a graphic artist/database builder but I have been cooking since I was 3 years old. My Nana was the dean of women at our local Jr. College. She had her Master’in home economics. She taught me how to make divinty on the rain.
I am board because I got laid off so I would do this for free. I respect recipes –no changes unless you ask for them. I don’t mind changes either. Let me know if you are interested.