Grilled Whole Sea Bream with Sweet Chili Heat Sauce
I’ve noticed that a lot of people can be intimidated by barbecuing a whole fish. I get it, fish is a delicate protein to cook on the bbq and a filet seems much easier to handle, but a grilled whole fish can be so tasty and simple to do, especially on a plancha. In my latest recipe, I do just that, grill up a whole fish on the plancha on the Alchemy Grill. I chose to make Sea Bream (aka Orata), which is a nice flaky white fish that is great to make whole. Sea Bream tend to not be a particularly huge fish, so it’s a pretty manageable choice of fish, especially if this is your first time doing a whole fish on the bbq. I seasoned my Sea Bream with Alchemy Blue Rub and cooked it on the plancha for about 16 minutes total, so about 8 minutes on each side. It really doesn’t take too long to cook through and get a nice, beautiful char on the outside.
While my fish was cooking, I put together a really simple but super flavourful Sweet Chili Heat Sauce. I mixed plum sauce with sambal -- sambal is a chili paste, made from ground chili peppers and other aromatics like garlic, ginger, shallot, sometimes shrimp paste, tamarind or other spices and herbs – seasoned rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. The sauce has a bit of sweetness from the plum sauce and spice from the sambal and is great on a white fish like Sea Bream.
Along with my grilled whole fish, I made a grilled pineapple salsa – grilling the pineapple on the plancha lets the sugars caramelize and brings out the sweetness. I mixed the pineapple with diced red pepper, red onion, fresh cilantro and seasoned it with sesame oil, seasoned rice wine vinegar and chili crisp for some extra crunch and a bit of heat, and then topped my dish off with some chopped green onion. If you want to find out how to make my Grilled Whole Sea Bream with Sweet Chili Heat Sauce keep reading, or click here to jump to the full recipe.
Start by making your pineapple salad. Begin by cutting your pineapple into rounds and then removing the skin from three of them.
Place the pineapple rounds on the plancha and let them grill, add a bit of canola oil and keep cooking. Flip after 2-3 minutes and cook on the other side.
Remove from the plancha once nicely charred and caramelized. Dice the grilled pineapple up, making sure to remove the core, and place in a bowl.
Chop up your fresh cilantro, red pepper and red onion and add to the bowl. Add in the seasoned rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and chili crisp and stir. Set aside.
To clean up your fish, cut off the fins and trim the tail. Score both sides of the fish and season with Alchemy Blue Rub.
Place the whole fish on the plancha and allow to cook, about 6-8 minutes, then flip. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon on each fish and allow to continue cooking, about another 6-8 minutes.
While the fish finishes cooking, make your sweet chili sauce by combining the plum sauce, sambal, seasoned rice wine vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl and stirring to combine.
To plate, add your grilled pineapple salsa to a platter. Place your whole fish on top of the salsa and drizzle with your sweet chili sauce, top with the green onions and enjoy.
And now for the full recipe...
Grilled Whole Sea Bream with Sweet Chili Sauce
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
2 whole Sea Bream fish (also called Orata)
Alchemy Blue Rub
Grilled Pineapple Salsa:
½ Pineapple
1 red pepper
1/3 red onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsp chili Crisp
2 tbsp Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp sesame Oil
2 stalks green onion
Sweet Chili Sauce:
4 tbsp plum sauce
1 tbsp sambal
1 tsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
How to Make It:
Start by cutting your pineapple into rounds and remove the skin from three of them. Place the pineapple rounds on the plancha and let them grill, add a bit of canola oil and keep cooking. Flip after 2-3 minutes and cook on the other side. Remove from the plancha once nicely charred and caramelized. Dice the grilled pineapple up, making sure to remove the core, and place in a bowl. Chop up your fresh cilantro, red pepper and red onion and add to the bowl. Add in the seasoned rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and chili crisp and stir. Set aside.
Slice your green onions on a bias and place in a bowl of ice water and set aside.
To clean up your fish, cut off the fins and trim the tail. Score both sides of the fish and season with Alchemy Blue Rub. Place the whole fish on the plancha and allow to cook, about 6-8 minutes, then flip. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon on each fish and allow to continue cooking, about another 6-8 minutes.
While the fish finishes cooking, make your sweet chili sauce by combining the plum sauce, sambal, seasoned rice wine vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl and stirring to combine.
To plate, add your grilled pineapple salsa to a platter. Place your whole fish on top of the salsa and drizzle with your sweet chili sauce, top with the green onions and enjoy.
