Asian Style Baked Rockfish
This Asian Style Baked Rockfish is a great easy weeknight dinner idea.
Dishes that call for cooking an entire fish (bones and all) sound extremely intimidating, I know. But they are actually incredibly simple to prepare and so flavorful.
Trust me though, it is actually much easier to cook an entire fish than it is to cook a perfect fish fillet. Whole fish are more forgiving.
Nothing is prettier than a whole-baked fish anyway.
This one is flavored with all of my favorite Asian pantry staples: sesame oil, fresh lime slices, soy sauce, red pepper powder (gochugaru), julienned carrots and ginger, garlic, and lots of cilantro.
Ask your fish monger to scale, gut, and butterfly the fish for you. We’ll stuff the cavity with cilantro and lime, sprinkle on the remaining of the ingredients, add a soy sesame sauce, and let the fish bake in an aluminum tent for 30 to 45 minutes.
My favorite way to serve it is alongside hot sushi (or brown) rice and a squeeze of fresh lime juice, cilantro, a drizzling of soy sauce, and crushed peanuts. It couldn’t be easier!
Asian Style Baked Rockfish
Ingredients
- 2½-3 lb whole scaled and butterflied rockfish or substitute sea bass or red snapper
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 3 scallions finely sliced on a diagonal
- 1 lime thinly sliced
- 1 medium carrot peeled and finely julienned
- 1½ inch chunk ginger root peeled and finely julienned
- 2 garlic cloves finely sliced
- handful fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon Korean red pepper powder (gochugaru)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with a rack in the center position. Line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the scaled, gutted, and butterflied rockfish on top of the aluminum foil. Season all sides and the fish cavity with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Stuff the cavity with the scallions, lime slices and half of the cilantro leaves. Sprinkle the top of the fish with the carrot, ginger, garlic, and remaining cilantro. In a separate bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper powder. Pour the sauce evenly over the fish.
- Top the fish with another large sheet of aluminum foil bringing the edges of both pieces together to fold and seal in the fish.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the top piece of foil and continue to cook, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.
- Serve immediately with sushi or brown rice, fresh lime wedges for squeezing, and additional soy sauce, cilantro, and crushed peanuts (if desired).
Tips for Success:
- Feel free to substitute with a larger or smaller fish and adjust cooking time accordingly. Allow roughly one pound or more of fish per serving.
23 Comments on “Asian Style Baked Rockfish”
what am i supposed to do with the scallions?
Yikes! That was an error on my part typing up the recipe. They should be stuffed in the cavity as well. I just updated the recipe (sorry, this recipe is many years old!), hope that helps.
I love your style! I would be willing to help you type recipes and photo them. I am a graphic artist/database builder but I have been cooking since I was 3 years old. My Nana was the dean of women at our local Jr. College. She had her Master’in home economics. She taught me how to make divinty on the rain.
I am board because I got laid off so I would do this for free. I respect recipes –no changes unless you ask for them. I don’t mind changes either. Let me know if you are interested.
I have rockfish filets, how would I adapt this recipe?
Hi Dawn! Sorry I can’t be more helpful–I haven’t tried it with rockfish filets (only the whole fish, which adds a lot of flavor and definitely changes cooking time/technique). My only advice would be to try it in a papillote (parchment sleeve)–and experiment! Filets would only take about 10 minutes tops at this temperature though! Again, sorry I can’t be more specific!
Does Conner know how lucky he is? Miss you!
Hi Laura,
I saw these photos days ago but have been remiss in my comment! I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of these photos, not to mention the recipe and the flavors! You should blow these photos up and mount them on the kitchen wall. Sorry about all the work reentering the recipes, however the whole blog looks and works beautifully! Hope you are getting some sleep this week!
Beautiful photos of a beautiful dish! I absolutely love cooking a whole fish. You get to enjoy the whole fish (bones and all), including the extra special nubs of meat!
My favorite part (and my grandma’s) is the cheek: the meat is so tender and rich. Best part, by far – if you haven’t try it you must next time!
Oh my god—YES!!! The cheeks are the best part. I immediately took dibs on that and wouldn’t let Connor near them.
It always feels so good to get a good night’s rest. My husband would go nuts for this fish. I’m going to have to send him out for rockfish.
Yes, and yes 🙂
We stayed up too late last night doing annoying wedding budget stuff…but that’s another story for another day. I think whole-baked fish looks gorgeous! At least, yours does!
Oh man, don’t remind me of wedding stuff. I’ve done practically nothing–it gives me anxiety!!!
You’re right, nothing is prettier than a whole roasted fish, and this one looks restaurant worthy. So beautiful and love the Asian flavors.
You’re too sweet–as always. Thank you Nicole!!
I’ve only done it a handful of times, but every time I cook a whole fish I start out feeling nervous and a little intimidated, and once I get going I always remember how easy it is. This sounds absolutely amazing, and your photos are stunning. Pinned!
Thank you Kelli! It always kind of forget about this kind of meal–but it really is so easy. There’s basically no prep time 🙂
Sorry to hear you had such a tiring week, but if it makes you feel any better, I’d say that your new template looks gorgeous!
Just like this fish! I’m a sucker for Asian style anything, and I’ve always wanted to cook a whole fish, so you bet this is being my dinner soon.
Hope you have a more relaxing and fantastic week! <3
So glad you like the new design! And thanks–this weekend definitely helped me recover. Let me know if you try it!
Um, yeah I hear you. The past few weeks have been a blur, super tiring and things are even crazier right now, but I am so happy you had a good weekend and got some sleep!
Loving these Thai flavors. I actually had a whole Thai post ready to go for today, but then the site crashed and things happened to make that Thai dish disappear. It’s a long story, but the point is that I am loving all things Thai and this fish is just gorgeous! Great recipe, Laura!
I think the entire month of January is doomed from the beginning, especially with the recovery from the holidays. Oh no!!! Hope we get a chance to see the Thai recipe post soon, absolutely hate when that happens. Thanks Tieghan!
I haven’t cooked a whole fish in ages…I should do it soon.
Not since the salt bake fail? I still need to try that.