California Grilled Whole Snapper Occasion Plate
California Baja celebration tradition reading a whole red snapper scored, stuffed with lemon and herbs, and grilled hard over high heat for crisp skin and tender flesh, plated with charred salsa verde, grilled corn, and a quick herbed rice for the celebratory main event dinner.
American
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Pat both snappers dry inside and out, score both sides of each with 3 diagonal cuts 1cm deep. Shuck corn, husk and rinse tomatillos, halve. Halve both jalapenos, remove seeds. Mince 6 garlic cloves, slice 2, leave 2 whole. Halve both lemons and 2 limes. Pick cilantro leaves and stems separately, finely chop oregano. Mix 2 tbsp olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, 1 tsp sea salt, and black pepper into a paste.
Simmer
Bring rice, chicken stock, cilantro stems, sliced garlic, and 0.5 tsp sea salt to a boil over high heat in a large pot, 3 minutes. Reduce to low, cover tightly, cook 15 minutes until stock absorbs completely.
Build 1
Rub herb-spice paste firmly into both snappers' scored flesh and cavities. Stuff each cavity with lemon halves and half the cilantro leaves. Brush outside of both fish with 2 tbsp neutral oil.
Char
Heat a large grill pan (or two pans) over high 4 minutes. Lay all tomatillos, both jalapenos, and both corn cobs on the grill, turn every 2 minutes for 8 minutes total until tomatillos blacken and corn chars. Transfer to a board.
Grill
Brush grill pan(s) with remaining 2 tbsp neutral oil, reduce to medium-high 1 minute. Lay both snappers undisturbed 6 minutes per side (cook in batches if using one pan) until skin crisps deep mahogany and flesh flakes from bone with a fork.
Build 2
Pulse charred tomatillos, both jalapenos, both whole garlic cloves, juice from 2 limes, half remaining cilantro, and 0.5 tsp sea salt into coarse salsa verde. Slice corn kernels off both cobs, toss with red onion, juice from remaining 2 limes, 2 tbsp olive oil, and remaining cilantro.
Rest and plate
Rest both snappers 4 minutes. Squeeze remaining 2 tbsp olive oil and flaky salt over skin of both fish. Divide rice between two plates, lay one snapper over each portion, spoon salsa verde across tops, pile corn salsa alongside each, rest remaining lime halves on rims.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.