As the barbecue season approaches, lovers of forays into nature and cooking over an open fire remember their favorite recipes for marinades and sauces, are interested in new ones, looking through modern culinary magazines and the expanses of Runet blogs.
Grilled fish is much healthier than fatty meat, and cooking takes literally a few minutes (the coals will take longer to burn through). The main thing is to choose the right marinade for the fish, bake it and you can enjoy a delicious dish.
One of the main factors influencing the taste of the finished dish is the choice of the right fish. The best fatty red varieties are trout and salmon. You can replace this fish with sockeye salmon or coho salmon; they are more accessible and affordable, but no less tasty. But it’s better not to use pink salmon; the fish is already quite dry, and hot coals will dry it out even more.
Preparing a fish carcass for marinating and cooking on coals:
If the fish carcass is frozen, in order to cook it over an open fire, it must be defrosted according to all the rules, otherwise the fish will fall apart during the frying process. You can defrost the carcass by placing the fish on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator, leaving it out in the evening. By morning the fish will be ready to be seasoned with aromatic spices and seasonings. At the same time, all the taste qualities of the product and attractive appearance will be preserved.
The defrosting process can take up to 10-12 hours.
Before marinating fish for grilling, you need to rinse it in running water and remove what the manufacturer left behind. You can cut off the head and tail, fins, and cut off the edges of the abdomen. Cut large fish in half, leave small carcasses whole. If you wish, you can fillet the fish and make a delicious soup from the remains of the ridge.
The most common and optimal option for cooking fish on the grill is to use a special grill. The tender fillet will cook evenly during cooking, and the grill will hold the meat. However, it is worth considering that the width of the fish should not exceed 3cm.
If you plan to cook fish on skewers or skewers, then the size of the pieces should depend on the diameter of the skewer; the larger it is, the thicker the fillet is cut. It is not recommended to cut thicker than 5 cm.
If wooden skewers are used, it is recommended to soak them in cold water overnight so they will not burn or smoke. For this method of cooking fish over coals, thin fillets of small fish are suitable.
What is the best way to cook red fish on the grill?
The main secret to cooking delicious red fish on the grill is not to dry it out and not spoil it with an abundance of spices. Coho salmon, trout or salmon require no additional ingredients other than salt, pepper and lemon. And it is better to serve fresh vegetables as a side dish for such fish.
Cooking time: 25 min.
Cooking time: 5 min.
- Steak 3 pcs. (trout, coho salmon or other red fish)
- Olive oil 1 tbsp.
- Sea salt 1 pinch
- Lemon 1 pc.
- Pepper mixture 1 tsp.
Marinades for fish
Classical
Ingredients:
- Onions - 2 pcs;
- Lemon 1 piece;
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves;
- Salt, pepper, herbs - to taste
Preparation:
- Cut the onion into thin half rings and the lemon into slices. Place the ingredients in a bowl and lightly mash with your hands until the juice appears.
- Squeeze a couple of cloves of garlic through a special press, add salt and pepper, fresh chopped herbs to taste, spices and seasonings.
- Stir and rub the fish with this mixture. If the carcass is whole, pieces of lemon, onion and herbs can be inserted into the belly of the fish.
- Marinate for up to 2-3 hours, no more, otherwise the fish will turn out sour, then cook on a wire rack.
Dry method with a spicy twist:
After baking, fish prepared according to this recipe comes out with a spicy “coat.” This marinade is suitable for red fish.
Ingredients:
- Red sweet onion – 2 pcs.;
- Bell pepper – 2 pcs.;
- Chili pod – 1 pc.;
- Garlic – 2 cloves;
- Lemon – 1 pc.;
- Some fresh herbs - cilantro and parsley;
- Olive oil – 85 ml;
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
Preparing the marinade:
- Chop all vegetables and herbs very finely or grind through a meat grinder. Add spices and fresh herbs.
- Rub dry and clean fish with the resulting mass and leave for several hours so that the fish is saturated with aroma.
To help the spices penetrate better, you can make shallow grooves on the skin with a sharp knife without cutting through the fillet to the ridge.
- Once the fish is marinated, it can be baked on the grill on a wire rack or in foil.
“Liquid” method of marinating
This marinade for grilled fish can be used to soak any fish, especially if it has a distinct river smell. It’s very tasty to bake silver carp on the grill according to this recipe.
Ingredients
- Lemon – 1 pc.;
- Water – 250 ml.
- Vegetable oil – 80 ml;
- Mustard - a tablespoon;
- Apple cider vinegar – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- 2 bay leaves;
- A tablespoon of sugar;
- A teaspoon of salt;
- Freshly ground pepper;
Preparing the marinade:
- Dissolve salt and sugar in warm water, add pepper and bay leaf.
- Grate the lemon zest (only the colored part, the white part will be very bitter in the marinade), add to the water along with lemon juice..
- Add vinegar, vegetable oil and mustard to the marinade. It is recommended to use mustard with grains to prepare the marinade; they will give a more pronounced and bright taste to the fish.
- Soak the fish in the prepared marinade for several hours, after which it can be baked on a wire rack or in foil.
For freshly caught fish
Freshly caught fish can be marinated fairly quickly using simple ingredients and ready-made fish seasoning, which is extremely convenient in “camping” conditions.
Ingredients:
- Lemon – 1 pc.;
- Onions – 2 pcs.;
- Seasoning for fish - teaspoon;
- A little salt.
Preparing the marinade:
- Gut the fresh fish, first thoroughly cleaning it of scales. Cut off all unnecessary parts, from them and small roach you can cook fish soup over a fire.
- Season the carcass with salt and prepared spices, thoroughly rubbing the mixture. Salt the inside of the fish and also add some spices.
- Peel the onion and cut into thick rings, without disassembling them, place them inside the belly. Add slices of lemon or lime for some piquancy.
- Place the fish in a bag, season with the remaining lemon, squeezing the juice into the bag, and put it in a cool place for a couple of hours if possible.
- Place the marinated fish on a greased grill to prevent it from sticking. And bake over hot coals. Approximate baking time is 10-15 minutes on each side.
Mackerel on coals
This type of fish not only has quite fatty meat, but also has a rather specific smell. You can soften the unpleasant aroma using marinade.
Ingredients:
- Mackerel - 2 fish;
- Garlic – 3 cloves;
- Lime – 1 pc.;
- Fresh tomatoes - 3 pcs.;
- A little parsley;
- Salt and seasonings;
- Vegetable or olive oil.
Cooking fish on coals:
- Cut off the head of the mackerel and clean the membranes inside.
- Cut the fish lengthwise, making a cut along the ridge, and carefully cut out the bones. Unfold it book-side.
- Grind the garlic and herbs, remove the zest from the citrus. Add vegetable oil, salt and freshly ground pepper to these ingredients. Rub the fish with the resulting sauce.
- Cut fresh tomatoes into rings, place on one side of the carcass, cover with the other part. The more tomato you use as a filling, the tastier and juicier the fish will be. For reliability, you can secure the belly with the filling with toothpicks.
- Cook the fish on the grill, or bake it in foil over coals.
Marinades give fish not only sharpness and piquancy, but also unique flavor shades.
When preparing the marinade, it is important to consider:
- ♦ Salt in the marinade will prevent pieces of fish from falling apart during cooking
- ♦ If the marinade contains onions, then chop them finely and add salt to release the juice
- ♦ It is better to replace vinegar with lemon juice so that the fish does not fall apart
- ♦ The fresher the fish, the less time it takes to marinate
Recipe 1: Fish kebab with pomegranate juice
- Gutted and cleaned fish (salmon, pink salmon, sturgeon) 3 kilograms
- Natural pomegranate juice 700 milliliters
- Vegetable oil 2 tablespoons
- Khmeli-suneli spice - to taste
- Spice ground dried coriander to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
We wash the fish well under running cool water, always inside and out, and then place it on a cutting board. If we have a whole fish carcass, then before we cut the fish into pieces, we need to remove the backbone and bones using a kitchen knife.
After this, we cut each fish fillet into small pieces, preferably the same size, so that during cooking, the fish is fried equally on all sides.
Then transfer the processed fish to a free bowl.
We prepare fish kebabs, following the general rules for preparing kebabs. How to marinate fish for barbecue? To do this, sprinkle the fish pieces with spices: coriander, suneli hops, and salt and pepper to taste. After this, pour pomegranate juice on top of the fish and then very carefully mix the fish pieces with your hands, lifting them from bottom to top.
Attention: the pomegranate juice must cover the top of the fish by 1.5-2 centimeters. After that, pour vegetable oil into the same container and mix everything again
Now cover the top of the bowl with an inverted plate and leave to marinate for 2-4 hours aside.
Fish kebabs are prepared in the same way as meat kebabs using a grill. Therefore, before we cook them, we will prepare the grill.
First, put some firewood on the bottom of the grill. Using matches, we light the wood and let it burn for a while. After 1/2 of the wood has burned, carefully pour the coals into the grill. We level them along the bottom of the container with a skewer or any wooden stick so that they can also flare up.
Attention: the amount of coal should not reach the middle of the walls of the grill by several centimeters. So, when the coal burns well and becomes covered with ash, and the fire almost goes out, we begin to prepare fish kebab
We take the marinated fish pieces out of the container and thread them onto skewers. You can cook fish over the grill in different ways, depending on the size of the fish. If the fish is large in size, then it is better to cook it on a spit or grill. If the fish is small in size, then it is better to string it on skewers or wooden skewers and grill it. It is better to bake small and dry fish in food foil, placing it on a grill on top of the grill.
The most important thing to remember is that fish kebab must be fried on well-hot coals, but without flame, otherwise the fish will burn. When the pieces of fish are strung, place the skewers on the grill at a minimum distance from the coals. We turn the skewers with kebab often so that the fish is not only fried equally on all sides, but also does not have time to burn, because fish meat is much more tender than animal meat.
Fish kebabs are fried over hot coals without flame for 6-10 minutes. Of course, the kebab cooking time may vary slightly depending on the thickness of the fish pieces
It is very important to correctly determine the degree of readiness of the kebab. After all, poorly fried fish meat can taste tough like rubber, and overcooked fish can turn out dry or simply fall apart
To determine readiness, use a fork. To do this, carefully pull apart the fibers on one of the fish pieces. If the fish meat inside the piece is still transparent, then increase the cooking time for the kebabs by another 2-3 minutes. If the fish pieces become matte, then our kebabs are ready.
Fish kebab can be served on skewers, on wooden skewers, or using a fork, carefully remove the fish pieces from the skewers and transfer them to separate serving plates. Along with the kebabs, we serve chopped onions or parsley and dill on the table.
You can also serve vegetables on a separate dish with our tender and flavorful fish kebabs: tomatoes, bell peppers, or bake eggplants over a fire and potatoes in ash. As a drink, dry white wine goes very well with our fish dish. Enjoy your meal!
The most popular fish marinade recipes
Recipes are designed for 1 kg of fish
Marinade for fish with white wine
- Dry white wine – 300 g
- Soy sauce – 200 g
- Sugar - 4 tablespoons;
- Fresh ginger – 100 g
- Deodorized oil - 5 tbsp. spoons
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Greens - to taste
Mix all ingredients. Coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
Marinade with lemon
- Lemon (juice and zest) - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Deodorized oil - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Marjoram - to taste
- Salt - to taste
Chop the garlic. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and finely chop the zest. Mix the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave to marinate for 1 hour.
With vinegar
- Vinegar 9% - 1 tbsp. spoon of vinegar
- Parsley - 1 bunch
- Thyme - 4 sprigs fresh or 2 tbsp. spoons of dry
- Bay leaf - 2 pcs.
- Onion - 1 pc. (large)
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt - to taste
Chop the onion and herbs, mix with the rest of the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave to marinate for 1 hour.
Classic recipe for cooking mackerel on the grill
Mackerel baked on coals with spices and garlic turns out juicy due to its own fat content and surprisingly tender. The cost of this type of fish is low, but when prepared according to this recipe, it is worthy of serving as the main dish for an outdoor party or a family celebration in nature.
Cooking time: 1 hour.
Cooking time: 10 min.
Ingredients:
- Mackerel – 3 pcs.
- Lemon – 0.5 pcs.
- Salt - to taste.
- Allspice - to taste.
- Vegetable oil – 4 tbsp.
- Garlic – 2 cloves.
- Ground ginger – 1 tsp.
- Mixture of Italian herbs – 1.5 tsp.
- Dried basil – 1 tsp.
Cooking process:
- Remove the fish carcasses from the fins, cut off the heads and tails, clean them of entrails and films, rinse well and make cuts on the skin.
- Place the fish on an open surface, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, mix ginger, a mixture of Italian herbs, basil and crushed garlic for the marinade. Add vegetable oil to the mixture and stir.
- Coat the fish on all sides and inside with marinade and leave for 30 minutes.
- Fry mackerel carcasses on coals for 8-10 minutes on each side. Serve with vegetables and pita bread.
With sauce
- Soy sauce - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Deodorized oil - 6 tbsp. spoons
- Coriander - 1 tbsp. spoon
- Garlic - 4 cloves
Chop the garlic, mix with the rest of the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
Fish on barbecue
- Vodka - 4 tbsp. spoons
- Soy sauce - 4 tbsp. spoons
- Spices for fish - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Ground black pepper -; taste
- Garlic - 3 cloves
Chop the garlic, mix with the rest of the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
- Dry white wine – 150 g
- Cilantro - 1 bunch
- Garlic - 4 cloves
- Onions - 3 pcs.
- Dill - 1 bunch
- Juice of one lemon
- Ground black pepper - to taste
- Salt - to taste
Chop the garlic and onion, mix with the rest of the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
Grilled
- Dry red wine – 200 g
- Deodorized oil - 4 tbsp. spoons
- Dry Provençal herbs - 2 tbsp. spoons
- Ground black pepper - to taste
Mix all the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
For smoking
- 2 large onions
- Salt - 4 tablespoons
- Vinegar 9% – 300 ml
- Unrefined oil - 300 ml
- Garlic - 1 head
- Allspice - 3 peas
Chop the garlic and onion, mix with the rest of the ingredients, coat the fish with marinade and leave it to marinate for 1 hour.
Preparation of any marinade comes down to the primitive mixing of all its components. If the fish is cooked whole, then, in addition to the outer sides, the belly should also be filled with marinade. Pieces of fish are coated (poured) with marinade.
Although the marinade contains preservatives (salt, vinegar, sugar), it should not be stored for a long time, much less reused.
You can make changes to any marinade recipe if desired. For example, remove some spice, or replace it with another. But you should not replace the main ingredient (vinegar, wine, lemon juice, etc.), otherwise the dish can simply be ruined.
How to simply and deliciously fry carp on the grill?
The sweetish carp meat goes well with green apple, fresh fried onion and coriander. This dish can be prepared for family gatherings at the dacha or a friendly picnic.
Cooking time: 1 hour.
Cooking time: 20 min.
Ingredients:
- Carp – 1 pc. (1.5 – 2 kg)
- Onions – 300-400 gr.
- Lemon – 100-200 gr.
- Green apple – 1 pc.
- Ground coriander – 2-4 g.
- Salt - to taste.
- Ground black pepper - to taste.
- Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp.
Cooking process:
- Clean the carp from the insides, trim off the fins and tail, rinse, coat inside and outside with a mixture of salt, pepper and coriander. Make deep cuts on the skin.
- Cut the lemon in half, then into half rings and insert them into the cuts on the skin of the fish.
- Peel the apple and cut it into small strips along with the onion, season, sprinkle with lemon juice, and then put the onion and apple inside the carp. Secure the belly with toothpicks or tie it with thread so that the filling does not fall out.
- Grease the grill grate with vegetable oil, as well as the fish itself. Grill the carp over coals for 20-30 minutes, turning regularly so that it cooks evenly. It is important to ensure that river fish is completely cooked, since eating raw carp is dangerous to health.
- Cut the carp baked on coals into portions and serve with porridge or vegetables.
Serving fish to an impromptu table in nature
While the fish is being cooked, it is worth taking care of the vegetable accompaniment, or rather the side dish. The taste of fish is well complemented by ordinary boiled rice; it can be prepared in advance and taken with you. You can heat the rice in foil with the addition of vegetable oil and herbs. Moreover, envelopes with a side dish can be prepared at home. Baked or boiled potatoes and grilled vegetables cooked with fish will also go well with fish.
White or rose wine, soft drinks with sourness, such as apple juice, homemade lemonade, are served as a drink with fish.
You can use mayonnaise, ketchup, soy sauce, spicy adjika, tkemali or tartar sauce as a sauce.
Step-by-step recipe for cooking carp baked in foil on the grill
Carp baked on the grill in foil is cooked without adding oil. Tomato juice used in the marinade neutralizes the specific smell of river fish, and olives, aromatic herbs and spices give the fish a pleasant Mediterranean flavor.
Cooking time: 3 hours 50 minutes.
Cooking time: 20 min.
Ingredients:
- Carp – 1 pc. (1.5-2 kg).
- Tomato juice – 1 l
- Onions – 400 gr.
- Tomatoes – 200 gr.
- Olives or black olives – 10 pcs.
- Ground black pepper - to taste.
- Ground allspice - to taste.
- Fresh rosemary – 5 gr.
- Fresh dill – 5 gr.
- Salt - to taste.
Cooking process:
- Clean the fish inside and out, trim off the fins and tail, wash and dry, make deep cuts on the skin.
- Cut the onion into half rings, mix spices and salt with tomato juice, place the fish in a container, put the onion inside and pour over the marinade. Let the fish stand for 2-3 hours.
- Place sliced lemon into the cuts on the skin. Place the carp on foil, put chopped olives and thin slices of tomatoes on top, cover with foil and secure so that the juice does not leak out during cooking.
- Place the fish in foil on the grill grate and bake for about 40 minutes, turning it on the other side from time to time so that the carp cooks evenly.
- Serve the finished fish in portions with vegetable salad with sour cream and dill.
Incredibly tasty crucian carp in sour cream on the grill
The classic recipe for crucian carp in sour cream can be cooked in foil on the grill. The result is tender meat, sour cream and herbs neutralize the special smell of river fish, and grilling gives the fish a light smoky aroma. It turns out to be a light and satisfying dish for the whole family.
Cooking time: 50 min.
Cooking time: 10 min.
Ingredients:
- Crucian carp – 8 pcs.
- Sour cream 25% - 300 gr.
- Onions – 4 pcs.
- Parsley - ½ bunch.
- Dill – ½ bunch.
- Green onion – 1 bunch.
- Butter – 100 gr.
- Salt - to taste.
- Ground black pepper - to taste.
Cooking process:
- Clean fish carcasses from scales and entrails, rinse well and dry. Trim the fins and tails, make cuts on the skin throughout the carcass. Season the fish with salt and pepper and leave for 10 minutes.
- Finely chop the greens and mix with sour cream, add pepper and salt if necessary, pour sour cream sauce over the fish.
- Cut the onion into half rings.
- Rub the foil with butter, first lay out some of the onion, then the fish in the sour cream marinade, then the rest of the onion, close the foil to form an airtight package.
- Grill on a rack in foil for 15 minutes on each side. Remove the crucian carp from the foil, lay out in portions and sprinkle with herbs.
Which fish to choose for grilling?
Fish baked on the grill is much better and healthier than regular fried fish. During the cooking process, it retains its original fishy taste and is imbued with the aroma of herbs, spices and woody smoke. The grill does not use vegetable oils, which, when frying, release large amounts of carcinogens and other harmful substances. Therefore, grilled fish retains a huge amount of useful components.
What kind of fish is suitable for grilling:
- red fish - coho salmon, salmon, sturgeon, sockeye salmon;
- river – trout, crucian carp, bream;
- sea – mullet, herring, trout, perch;
- dorado;
- sea bass;
- mackerel;
- tuna.
Lean white fish often turns out too dry after cooking on the grill, so it is best not to use it. And carp and pike are also not suitable, since their meat is rather dry, with a lot of small bones.
Fish for grilling should not be very fatty or too dry, or have a lot of bones. Small carcasses need to be cleaned, gutted and can be baked whole on both sides alternately. You can make several cuts on the sides of the fish - this will allow the meat to be completely cooked and the bones to soften.
Large ones are best used to make steaks or fillets, which go well with vegetables and other side dishes cooked on the grill. Large fish should be fleshy, with a minimum of bones in the back area.
It is best to choose medium-sized carcasses - this is the best option for those cases when there is no time for long-term marinating. You don’t need to marinate it in advance, just pepper, salt and season with aromatic herbs.
A tasty and unusual option for a trip to nature is fish kebab. It is recommended to prepare it from fillet, cut into slices and strung on skewers. The main condition for choosing the right carcass for barbecue is that it must be elastic.
Did you decide to organize a trip spontaneously and didn’t have a barbecue at hand? Don't despair - you can please yourself with tasty and juicy fish dishes using foil. The fish needs to be washed, cleaned, the insides removed, sprinkled with salt, pepper and other spices, poured with vegetable oil and wrapped in foil. You can simply fry the carcasses over coals, remembering to turn them over several times.
