Redfish on Halfshell

[pugger]

Friends cut filets off redfish, leaving skin/scales on 1 side. They cook this on the grill & call it "redfish on the halfshell." You put it on the grill, skin/scales down & never flip it. Swear it's the best way to cook it.

Now, older salt I used to fish with cut the filets clean of skin/scales, as it is/was my instinct to do. Grilling redfish filets this way was always pretty awesome, using a grilling basket.

Ok, they gave me several filets last weekend, as I was not lucky enough to catch any reds & clean them. So I'm practically forced to try it now - believe I ate it like this 10-15 years ago. Memory says it was fishy though not overcooked. I would almost expect it to be fishy now.

Looking for comments/suggestions ?

Thanks.

 

[ChefJune]

OVercooking will make it mushy, not "fishy." "fishy" comes when the fish is old, and takes on that horrible ammonia smell.

 

[RosCoe]

Pugger, I'm from Texas too. I think fileting and removing all the red stuff on the skin side is the only way to go. That's where the fishy taste comes from. I've heard of the half shell way for many years but haven't tried it. I've always suspected it would taste "fishy"
roscoe

 

[pugger]

Pugger, I'm from Texas too. I think fileting and removing all the red stuff on the skin side is the only way to go. That's where the fishy taste comes from. I've heard of the half shell way for many years but haven't tried it. I've always suspected it would taste "fishy"
roscoe

Thanks,
I'm going to try 1 this weekend & see how it turns out.

As for overcooking, it will make unspoiled fish fishy in my experience. I've spoken with a number of chefs that agree on this point.

 

[gumbotc]

I am originally from south louisiana and about 5 years ago I was fishing with my nephew at Venice and caught several redfish. When we got home he grilled the fish with the scales on and it was delicious. I have been dong it that way ever since. Put a little oil on both sides season with some cajun seasoning, put it flesh side down for a couple of minutes then flip it to scale side. Never has tasted fishy to me.

 

[RosCoe]

I missed your point about overcooked fish tasting fishy. I don't know that I've ever had that happen but I don't doubt it. As for the half shell thing I'm going to give it a go. I'm not one to say something isn't good until I've tried it. Gumbo I've never fished out of Venice but the best seafood I've ever eaten was in Louisiana. If you have some good recipes be sure and post them. I'm going to the jetties Monday and if I catch a legal one I'll report back.
roscoe

 

[pugger]

Galveston

I missed your point about overcooked fish tasting fishy. I don't know that I've ever had that happen but I don't doubt it. As for the half shell thing I'm going to give it a go. I'm not one to say something isn't good until I've tried it. Gumbo I've never fished out of Venice but the best seafood I've ever eaten was in Louisiana. If you have some good recipes be sure and post them. I'm going to the jetties Monday and if I catch a legal one I'll report back.
roscoe

Galveston? Don't forget you can tag & keep one oversized. Good luck & give us a report.

Been cooking beef & pork last few days. I'll get to the fish 1 day this week & will try w/ gumbotc's suggestion of putting flesh side down first. This way it at least sounds like grilled fish to me. I'll report back then.

 

[RosCoe]

Sounds good. I'll do the same we can compare notes.

 

[pugger]

Good

I am originally from south louisiana and about 5 years ago I was fishing with my nephew at Venice and caught several redfish. When we got home he grilled the fish with the scales on and it was delicious. I have been dong it that way ever since. Put a little oil on both sides season with some cajun seasoning, put it flesh side down for a couple of minutes then flip it to scale side. Never has tasted fishy to me.

I tried it last night & the fish was very good. Nice grill marks on the flesh, and I have 4 or 5 more filets I'll get to do this for. The meat doesn't peel off the skin as easily as I expected. Maybe I need to coat the skin side w/ oil, too?

 

[pugger]

Had another grilled filet last night. Burned the scales pretty good, which wasn't a big deal except the fish filled up the plate. I'll cut the filets in half (or thirds depending on fish size) in the future.

I want to thank all of you again for your thoughts/ideas. If you've ever cleaned these fish you know how difficult it can be to get your filets - leaving the skin/scales on saves time & effort if you are always grilling. I think this might work under the broiler too, have to give that some thought .

 

[RosCoe]

Hi Pugger. I forgot about this thread and after Ike it's been a struggle to get out on the bay. I've been out five or six times since the hurricane and let all the fish go including some nice reds. I'm in a bbq mode since it cooled off and I'm going to keep one and try it like I said last time and didn't do. Thanks for bringing this back up.