And now, for something completely different: we’re going to have Grilled Fish Week.
The thing is, I haven’t really mastered the art of putting a piece of raw fish on the grill and turning it into something edible. It’s a challenge. More often than not, I wind up with something charred on the outside and raw on the inside, or so dried-out that it completely falls apart, or I lose big chunks through the grates of the grill, or even when I get the cooking right, it’s just bland and flavorless. None of this makes me want to eat more fish (especially when I look at the prices).
Now, you should know that I’m a fussy fish eater. I know it’s good for me, and I should eat more, and all that jazz. And I try. But for the most part, I feel like fish tastes . . . fishy. That’s not a good thing, in my mind. A hint of smoke helps, as well as the textural interest of those little grill marks, but even so–I don’t like anything fishy.
So my grilled fish experiments have revolved around two general categories: mild white-fleshed fish that doesn’t taste like, you know, fish, and slightly stronger varieties (salmon, mainly) that I can foist on the other people in my house. Today’s choice: wahoo. Now, if you look at a piece of wahoo at the fish counter, it looks like a stronger fish. But cooked up, it’s really quite mild, taking on the flavors of whatever you soak it in, brush on it, or pair it with.
The photo above is a piece I cooked for Toby’s friend David. He seemed to like it well enough (of course, he’s a 16 year-old boy, so he’ll eat pretty much anything). I thought it looked a little dry, but honestly, my ability to gauge doneness is pretty much a crap shoot. I think a big piece of the equation is experience–after a week of cooking fish every night, I got a lot better at judging what was done and what needed to go another minute or two.
Here’s what I did:
Grilled Wahoo
for each wahoo steak–
1/2 T. olive oil (reduce this if you need to; I used this much because I could, since it was for David)
1/2 T. lime juice
1/2 T. lemon juice
1/2 T. paprika (I used an ordinary Hungarian sweet paprika, but next time I might try a Spanish smoked paprika)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I used this much because I know David loves spicy food, but you might not need as much)Mix together the marinade ingredients. Put the fish in a bowl and pour the marinade over; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for no more than 30 minutes (you don’t want the citrus to turn the fish into ceviche).
Before you fire up the grill, scrape it as clean as you possibly can–that’s apparently the first trick to keeping fish intact on the grill. Preheat it to high, close the lid, and give it time to get good and hot. When it’s ready, assemble your ingredients and tools so you don’t have to step away.
Now, this is where the first tricky bit happens: oiling the grate. Take a paper towel, wad it up, and pour a generous dollop of vegetable oil on it. Lift the lid, and quickly rub the oily paper towel on the spot where you’re planning to put the fish. If the heat makes you nervous (my fingers seem to be made of asbestos), use a pair of long-handled tongs to grip the paper towel.
Now put the piece of fish on the oiled spot and close the lid. Turn the heat down to about medium-hot (assuming you have a gas grill; if you’re using charcoal, I hope you know what you’re doing, because I don’t). Now don’t touch that fish for about 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, try sliding a wide spatula under the fish; hopefully it will lift right up. If it tries to stick, use the spatula and a pair of tongs to gently encourage it to let go of the grate.
Carefully flip it over, and leave it for another 4 minutes or so. The timing is so variable–all I can tell you is you’ll have to use your own judgment. You can try cutting into the fish, to make sure it’s cooked through, but then you risk total disintegration.
Serve with some extra lime wedges to squeeze over.
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