The most important thing when braaing fish is to be sure that the fish is fresh. The fish should look fresh with bright eyes and shiny skin. When you press on the flesh it should bounce back, because if a dent stays the fish is probably old. The fish should also not smell fishy (yes, really). You can ensure that your fish is fresh by catching it yourself, buying it from a trustworthy fishmonger or buying it from fishermen, and as you can see from the picture above they are easy to spot in a crowd.
Ingredients
- 1 whole FRESH fish. Cob, Yellow tail or Cape Salmon (Gutted and scaled, with the head and tail still on but the backbone removed) +/- 2kg
- ¼ Cup Butter
- Lemon Juice
- 3-4 Cloves Garlic – crushed
- 3 Ripe big tomatoes – sliced
- 1 Onion sliced
- Newspaper
- String for tying
- Handful of fresh parsley, thyme and basil – Chopped
Method
- Stuff the fish with the garlic, tomatoes, onions and herbs. Add a few lumps of butter and close the fish.
- Take 10 newspaper pages and individually dip in water and then wrap around the fish. Tie it up with string to prevent it from unraveling. Make a hollow in medium heat coals and nestle the wrapped fish among the coals for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Be sure to turn the fish occasionally. Keep water handy in case the newspaper ignites. If you are using a kettlebraai you can put the parcel on top of the grid and close the lid.
- Remove the newspaper and serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
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