Coastal Seafoods

This could be the easiest DIY project you take on all year. Cooking a whole fish is just as simple as popping a filet in the oven—and way more impressive.

“It doesn’t have to be intimidating,” says Ryan Sieloff, retail manager for Coastal Seafoods. “There’s really no trick to this”—other than landing a fresh whole fish. Sieloff recommends starting with a small fish, like a whole tai snapper from New Zealand.

What you need:
1 whole snapper per person (a 1- to 11/2 pound fish, minus the inedible parts, will yield an 8- to 10-ounce portion), olive oil.

How to do it:
Make sure fish is fresh. Look for clear eyes, red gills, and a nice gloss. Flesh should spring back when pressed. Ask your fishmonger to remove guts, gills, fins, and scales. Make slits at an angle on both sides of fish. If you’re so inclined, stuff slits with a mash of garlic, lemon zest, salt, and herbs.

Brush both sides of fish lightly with olive oil and bake 12 to 15 minutes in a 400-degree oven until center temperature reaches 145 degrees. Cut a slit in thickest section to check for doneness. If flesh is no longer translucent, fish is cooked through.

Serve fish whole.
Snapper skin is edible. Or you can peel away the skin with a sharp knife.

Turn it up a notch:
Go big with a whole salmon or Arctic char. Sieloff notes that you may need to tie a large fish’s tail up toward its head with twine to make it fit in a pan. And remember: the larger the fish, the Ionger the cooking time.