How to Cook Snapper?
Pan-fried Snapper
I sometimes will pan-fry Snapper I catch. I only eat the small ones – maximum a couple of pounds. Otherwise, I just think they don’t taste as good. Smaller fish are always better in my opinion.To pan fry, just gut them and remove the scales.
Throw some butter in a frying pan and cook them skin side down. I usually put a lid on, but I use a lid that is too small for the frying pan. Doing this allows most of the steam to escape. Steam can make fish taste bland and toughens the flesh. I like it soft.
I almost always cook my fish with lemon and good fatty and salty butter. It won’t take long at all to pan-fry them, so give it a few minutes on each side once the pan is hot.If you like this fish a lot, you can make fish tacos with the flesh.
It tastes amazing and most people enjoy the taste. Pan fry it or broil it before adding to taco seasoning for putting on tacos. Ideally, you’ll go the whole 9-yards and add some guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, and of course CHEESE!
BROILING
My favorite way to eat any fish, and the number one way I do it is to broil them. I leave the head on. Bones in. I scale them and remove the intestines.
I have a flat cooking pan with a rim. I wrap the fish in foil. Before I close it I add cumin powder or garlic sprinkle or real cut garlic. Butter. Pepper. That’s usually all. Oh, and a bit of salt if the butter isn’t salted.
Seal foil (cinch) at top. Poke 3-4 holes in the foil with a sharp knife – about 1/2″ long to let steam escape.
Broil or bake it on high (preheat) and cook for like 5-8 mins. Check it after 5. Put the pan furthest away from the heat source. If broiling – put on bottom rack. If baking, put on top rack.
You’re good to go! Should be awesome. Mine always is. Don’t forget to eat the meat at the top of the head over the brain. Delicious bits there. Jacks and Permit have HUGE meat there that everyone misses if they cut off the head and just fillet.
PRO TIP – Any fish can have parasites. When you cut open the fish to fillet it, have a look at the flesh to see if you see any bloody red or dark or white spots. You can cut them out and eat the fish if you want, but most people just throw it away.
This is another reason to just eat the smaller-sized legal fish you catch, not the big ones. Throw the big ones back after a few photos. Let them live a while longer and provide hundreds or thousands