Cooking a whole fish (Branzino)

[Anonymous]

I am having family over for Christmas Eve and am considering roasting whole fish - likely Branzino, my personal favorite. I will keep it simple with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon and herbs.

I am just a little intimidated at the prospect of deboning the fish. I've seen it done tableside a number of times, but not enough to have followed how to do it well, especially with the small bones.

Does anyone have any advice on deboning fish? And please share your tried and true Branzino recipes!

[Anonymous]

My friend, who loves to cook, actually studies the techniques online then does a "practice" meal before serving something she feels a little unsure about to her guests.

I don't. I just watch Youtube videos. It's a second best - she gets far better results than I do! There's nothing like actual practice, OP.

[Anonymous]

If your guests will be squeamish about getting a bone or two in their portion, then perhaps whole fish is not the best choice. The meat comes off branzino pretty easily when you cut lengthwise down the fish along the midline (from middle of gills to middle of tail), and then use a spatula to lift the top half of the filet off (midline to back) and then the bottom half of the filet off (midline to belly). The back portion rarely has bones in it, but the belly... sometimes the thin bones from the ribcage stick to that part.

[Anonymous]

When I get it at Whole Foods they will debone and gut it for you. Stuff with lemon and dill, coat with oil and salt and pepper. Very easy to bake

[Anonymous]

Branzino is best cooked whole, has the best taste and is not dried out. But, it is unlikely you guests will be ok with you ripping apart their fish.