Cooking whole seabass

[nappyaddict]

Is it best to dehead and detail before or after cooking?

And what about skinning it? Shall I do that before or after I cook it?

How are you serving it?

I'd leave it whole as it looks so much better brought to the table that way.

I'm jealous, I adore seabass but rarely have it as it's so dear.

My sister won't touch it if it has the head/skin on etc when it's brought to her so that's a no go!

I got it from Asda. Every week they have a selection of their fish on a "better than half price" offer.

Cook it with and remove it after.

If I wasn't going to serve it whole, I think I'd fillet it before cooking. Seems a shame though...

I'd cook it whole, but de-scale if they didn't do that for you.

Does it make a difference to taste if you dehead and tail before cooking or after? Or is it any easier to do it before or after cooking?

It's a big one so will probably cut it in half before serving as a whole one is far too much for one person.

It does make a difference in flavour. I almost always cook mine whole, with some herbs, seasoning and a couple of slices of lemon stuffed in. I've got a couple of yummy recipes I do all the time if you want.

boosmummie Does it make a difference in flavour if they descale it for you or not? Or is it just the keeping it whole that matters :)

No, but the scales are not pleasant to eat and once it's cooking they come off a little too easily and it's not nice to get one in a mouthful....

If it's not been done, just run a sharp knife against the scales under running water - doesn't take more than a couple of minutes, but you'll be thankful that you've done it...!

OK so deskin before cooking, dehead and detail after?

Descale only. Leave skin on. Head/tail off. HOw are you cooking it? Whether you're stuffing and roasting or just grilling, once it's cooked the skin will come off very easily in one go and you can then remove portions (4 I'm guessing if it's quite big) from the bone very easily - you don't even need to touch head/tail - the reasons I keep fish whole are a - more flavour and b - keeps it all together ifswim.

Do you mean head/tail on cos you typed off :)

Of course. I'm just testing you