Sweet and Sour Whole Rockfish

Here’s my simple recipe for the 9 Mile rockfish I cooked tonite. It was caught 9/21. My wife also fried up a filet from a 6-8 lb Red. I cooked up a teenager, a 3 pounder.

Sweet and Sour Rockfish
(1) whole 2-6 lb rockfish
box corn starch
veg oil

Sweet & Sour Sauce
1/3 c catsup
1/3 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Whisk and boil on med heat until liquid is translucent. Put aside covered.

Wash fish. Gill, gut, scale and leave rest of fins on. Do not put slits into the skin. Rub both sides and cavity with raw garlic then ginger. Then salt heavily on both sides and cavity.

Heat oil in 14″ cast iron skillet to +400 degrees. try to keep temperature at 400 degrees while frying all sides. I use a 15,000 btu cooker outside. Put whole fish in corn starch and rub in each side and cavity. Dust. Put 3/4s of fish in hot oil or whole fish if fits. Cook until it looks golden about 5 minutes. Then put tail section in for about half that time. Flip. Cook other side like 1st. When done remove to a sheet pan with a rack on top. Baste top side with S&S sauce. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes (depends on thickness). Remove, turn fish and baste other side with S&S sauce and return for 10-15 more minutes. Even though the fish pic looks well done it is JUST cooked thru to medium and juicy. Remove to a serving platter. I start eating at the tail and fins (crispy treats), then work on the head. After that i like the tail meat best. My wife said this fish tasted like shellfish. You are what you eat. You get about 1/3 more meat by cooking the fish whole. Lots of the tastiest meat is in the cheeks and fin/head areas. Parts that you throw away when fileting.