Previous Next

1 / 4

About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

A whole butterflied fish, brushed with deep red chile-garlic adobo and grilled until smoky, caramelized and juicy — then finished with charred lime and fresh cilantro. 🐟🌶️🔥

Ingredients

• Whole fish 🐟 seafood
• 🐟 1 whole red snapper or sea bream, 1.2–1.4 kg, scaled, gutted and butterflied (2.6–3.1 lb)
• 🧂 1½ tsp fine sea salt
• ⚫ ½ tsp black pepper
• 🍋 30 ml fresh lime juice (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• Guajillo citrus adobo 🌶️
• 🌶️ 4 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 🌶️ 1 dried ancho chile, stemmed and seeded
• 🧄 20 g garlic (4 cloves / 0.7 oz)
• 🍊 80 ml fresh orange juice (⅓ cup / 2.7 fl oz)
• 🍋 40 ml fresh lime juice (2 tbsp + 2 tsp / 1.35 fl oz)
• 🥄 30 ml soy sauce (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz) glutensoy
• 🥄 15 ml Worcestershire sauce (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🥄 60 g mayonnaise (¼ cup / 2.1 oz)
• 🫒 20 ml neutral oil (1 tbsp + 1 tsp)
• 🌿 ½ tsp Mexican oregano
• 🌿 ¼ tsp ground cumin
• 🧂 ½ tsp fine sea salt
• For grilling 🔥
• 🫒 Neutral oil for the grill grates
• 🧅 1 large white onion, cut into thick rings
• 🍋 3 limes, halved
• 🌶️ 2 serrano chiles, optional
• To serve 🌮
• 🌮 Warm corn tortillas
• 🥒 Thinly sliced cucumber
• 🧅 Finely sliced white onion
• 🌿 Fresh cilantro
• 🥑 Avocado slices
• 🍋 Extra lime wedges
• 🌶️ Fresh salsa, optional

Preparation

• 1 Prepare the fish 🐟 Pat the butterflied fish completely dry with paper towels. Make 2–3 shallow diagonal cuts through the flesh on each side without cutting through the skin. Season with salt, black pepper and lime juice.
• 2 Toast the dried chiles 🌶️ Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles for about 10 seconds per side until fragrant. Do not let them blacken or burn.
• 3 Soften the chiles 💧 Place the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Leave for 10 minutes until soft, then drain well.
• 4 Blend the adobo 🍊 Add the softened chiles, garlic, orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, oil, oregano, cumin and salt to a blender. Blend until completely smooth and deep red.
• 5 Coat the fish 🌶️ Place the fish skin-side down on a tray. Brush a generous layer of adobo over all exposed flesh, working some sauce into the shallow cuts. Let stand for 20 minutes while the grill heats.
• 6 Prepare the grill 🔥 Preheat a grill to medium-high heat, around 220°C (425°F). Clean and oil the grates very thoroughly. For charcoal, arrange the coals so you have a hot zone and a slightly cooler zone.
• 7 Start skin-side down 🐟 Place the fish skin-side down over the moderately hot area of the grill. Close the lid and cook for approximately 7–9 minutes. The skin should become firm enough to release easily from the grate.
• 8 Flip carefully 🔥 Using two large spatulas or a fish basket, carefully turn the fish flesh-side down. Grill for 4–6 minutes until the adobo develops dark caramelized spots. Avoid moving the fish unnecessarily.
• 9 Baste and finish 🌶️ Turn the fish skin-side down again. Brush lightly with additional adobo and cook for another 3–5 minutes over indirect heat until the thickest part of the flesh is opaque and flakes easily.
• 10 Char the vegetables 🍋 While the fish finishes, grill the onion rings, lime halves and optional serranos until deeply marked and slightly softened. The lime should become juicy and lightly caramelized.
• 11 Serve family-style 🌮 Transfer the whole fish to a large dark serving platter. Finish with charred lime, grilled onion and fresh cilantro. Serve with warm corn tortillas, cucumber, avocado, white onion and extra salsa so everyone can build their own tacos.

Timing details

Nutrition

Estimated values per serving.

Tips & variations

More from this category

Share & Print