Since leaving Korea and living abroad for many years, I’ve come across a few fish that were unfamiliar to me when I lived in Korea. Two of them are whiting and branzino, and I found that they can be especially delicious when cooked with Korean flavors. In a previous recipe, I used whiting to make a traditional Korean spicy fish stew, maeuntang. Today I’m going to show you one of my favorite ways to cook branzino.
Branzino, also known as European sea bass, is a white fish commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea and along the coasts of Europe and North Africa. It is often cooked whole and is popular in many Mediterranean cuisines.
When I first saw branzino at a seafood market in New York City, I wondered how people here usually cooked it. A few years ago, I visited Brighton Beach in Brooklyn and stopped by a small restaurant for lunch. On the menu I noticed “whole grilled branzino.” I thought, “This is my chance to try it,” and ordered it right away.
The fish was very fresh and tender, slightly sweet, and had no fishy smell at all! It was served with lemon, and I squeezed plenty of lemon juice over it. While eating, I suddenly thought that it would also taste wonderful with a Korean-style sauce.
The next time I went to the seafood market, I finally bought a branzino and tried cooking it myself. Since I live in an apartment and can’t easily barbecue, I used the oven broiler and cooked it over very high heat. Then I poured my Korean sauce over it and served it with rice as a side dish. It was so delicious!
If you buy a whole branzino, you can ask the fishmonger to clean and scale it for you. But if your market doesn’t have a fishmonger, don’t worry. You can easily clean a fish yourself at home. Check out my simple video showing how to clean a fish.
Since then, whenever I find fresh branzino at the seafood market, I buy three or four at a time, clean them, and keep them in the freezer for later. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t start cooking branzino this way earlier! But as I like to say, it’s never too late to start something new. Whenever I make this for Korean guests at my home, they always enjoy it and ask me for the recipe.
Ingredients
Serves: 3-4
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Directions
Prepare the sauce and garnish
- In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, gochu-garu, garlic, chopped green onion, and sesame oil. Set aside.
- Reserve a little bit of the chopped green onion for garnish before serving.
- Soak the onion in water. You’ll add it on top just before serving.
Now, let’s broil the fish:
1. Preheat the oven broiler to 500°F (260°C).
2. Place the cleaned branzino on a cutting board and pat it dry with paper towels. Score both sides of the fish a few times with a sharp knife.
3. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of salt evenly over the fish.
4. Brush both sides of the fish with olive oil and lightly oil the rack in the roasting pan to prevent sticking.
5. Place the roasting pan on the middle oven rack and broil the fish for about 5 to 6 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned. If the fish is larger, cook it a little longer.
6. Flip the fish over and broil for another 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the sliced onion.
8. Transfer the fish to a serving plate. Spoon the sauce over the fish, then top with the onion slices and the remaining chopped green onions.
9. Finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
10. Serve right away with rice, kimchi, and other side dishes if desired. Doenjang-jjigae or sundubu-jjigae is a great accompaniment.
11. Usually it’s eaten all at once, but if you have leftovers, refrigerate them in an airtight container and enjoy within about 3–4 days.
Broiled branzino served with multigrain rice, sundubu-jjigae, radish kimchi, and cilantro salad.
