On Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 65 (How 2 Tuesday #22), I show you how to cook snapper on the half shell, a Louisiana method where you fillet the fish but leave the skin and scales on and grill it skin-side down without ever flipping it. I learned this from my friend Anthony Randazzo, who cooks redfish on the half shell at his lodge, and I adapted it for the heavy-scaled mangrove and mutton snapper I catch in the Keys. The scales become a shell that protects the meat while the fat layer underneath caramelizes. It is one of the easiest and best ways I have found to cook fish.
Listen now: Spotify · Apple Podcasts · or press play in the player above.
Cooking on the half shell means you fillet the fish but leave the skin and scales on, then grill the fillet skin-side down without ever flipping it. It is a Louisiana method that they call redfish on the half shell, and I do it with mangrove and mutton snapper at home. The scales and skin act as a shell that protects the meat while it cooks.
Leaving the scales and skin on turns them into a built-in cooking surface that shields the meat from direct heat. The fat layer between the skin and the flesh caramelizes as it cooks, and I think that is exactly what makes this so good. The scales burn black on the grill, but the fillet underneath stays protected and moist.
I like gray snapper, also called mangrove snapper, the most for this, and mutton snapper works well too. Those fish have heavy scales, the same as redfish, which is what this method is built around. Yellowtail snapper is a little more delicate and has different scales, so it is not as good a fit for this recipe.
Get the grill very hot before the fish goes on. Lay the fillet skin-side down on the grate and do not move it again. I put the lid down, let it sit for a few minutes, then open it up to paint on more of the butter mixture and keep cooking until the fish is fully done.
I make a basting mixture from a stick of butter, a chopped onion, and two cups of Italian dressing. Then I add a teaspoon of garlic powder, three teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce, a teaspoon of Tabasco or Tiger sauce, and a teaspoon of Tony's Cajun seasoning. I heat it all together and paint it onto the fish, adjusting the Worcestershire to taste.
Watch the scales: they turn completely black and burn up while the meat underneath stays protected. Keep painting on the butter mixture and let it cook on the grill until it is fully done. When it is ready, lift it onto a plate and flake the fish away from the skin with a fork.
Here is the exact method I use, the same way my friend Anthony Randazzo cooks redfish on the half shell at Paradise Plus Lodge in Louisiana.
I walk through each of these on the grill, with the stories behind them, in the episode. Press play in the player above.
For years I cleaned snapper the way most people do, running a fillet knife under the skin and coming out with a clean, skinless fillet. That is how most snapper gets served, and it is a very good fish cooked that way. Then I watched Anthony cook redfish on the half shell down in Louisiana and decided to try the same thing with the snapper I bring home in the Keys. The first time I did it, it was dynamite, and it has become one of my favorite ways to eat fish. I tell the whole story in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The thing I keep coming back to is that fat layer sitting between the skin and the flesh of the fish. When the fillet cooks skin-side down on a hot grill, the scales burn black and the skin chars, but they shield the meat from the direct heat. While that is happening, the fat layer caramelizes, and I think that is exactly why it tastes so good. You are not fighting to flip a delicate fillet, and you are not drying it out. I break down what is happening on the grill, minute by minute, in the episode. Press play in the player above.
If you fish and you have access to snapper or redfish, this is an easy one to add to your rotation. If you do not, you can still do it. I have seen whole snapper sitting in the case at Whole Foods and plenty of other places, and you can take one of those home and fillet it exactly the way I describe. Leave the skin and scales on, make the butter mixture, and put it on a hot grill. I cover where to find the right fish and how to handle a whole one in the episode, so press play in the player above.
If you eat a lot of fish, you probably have one or two ways you always cook it. I was the same way for a long time. This method broke me out of that, and now it is one of the first things I reach for when I have a heavy-scaled snapper or a redfish on the table.
Try it once and I think you will be hooked. If you cook it, send me a picture and tag Saltwater Experience on Instagram, or email me your own recipes at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com. The best ones might turn into a future How 2 Tuesday. Press play in the player above.
Anthony Randazzo · Paradise Plus Lodge · Into the Blue · Key West · Louisiana · mangrove snapper (gray snapper) · mutton snapper · yellowtail snapper · redfish · Italian dressing · green goddess dressing · Worcestershire sauce · Tabasco · Tiger sauce · Tony's Cajun seasoning · garlic powder · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill at a time, from fishing technique and gear to cooking the fish you catch, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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