How To Grill Sea Bass For Perfectly Juicy Meat And Ultra-Crispy Skin

A beautiful piece of fish at the seafood store or even the supermarket always seems to pack the promise of a quick elegant dinner. A lot of those fillets cook faster than plenty of other proteins, and they usually require little more than a bit of oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a squeeze of lemon to reach peak form. But of course, the delicate composition that makes all those lovely aquatic options so speedily prepared can also make them just a little tricky to work with. So Chowhound asked Lei Jiang, chef de cuisine at The Fulton by Jean-Georges, for his exclusive tips on grilling flavorful sea bass to perfection (read: juicy flesh with crispy skin). The Fulton is a New York City seafood fave, and it's among culinary celebrity Ina Garten's favorite restaurants in the world. Jiang's elite method requires that you ultimately fire the fish skin-side down for the majority of the time, but the prep work for the best grilled sea bass begins on the flip side before you even light the fire.

"A great trick is to leave the fish skin-side up and uncovered in the fridge overnight," Jiang says. "This helps dry the skin for better crisping." He also cautions that one must start with a clean grill and advises that home cooks scrub the grates in advance. You should have plenty of time while the bass chills out. Jiang also says a long grill spatula is compulsory for what little turning will follow. Once your tools are gathered and sparkling you can ignite the flame.

Lei Jiang advises aspiring pitmasters to oil both the grill grates and the fish, lubricating the former with a towel and lightly brushing the latter. The grill should hover somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit before the bass is gently pressed into the metal, which he says promotes more even cooking. "I cook the bass skin-side down for about 80% of the time," Jiang says. "Then I flip it and let it cook gently on the flesh side for just 5-10 seconds before removing it from the grill. Let it rest for a minute before serving — this helps lock in the juices."

How long that first 80% takes can depend on where your grill's temperature lands on that 50 degree expanse, how close you position the fish to the fire, and even environmental conditions. It should approach its ideal, moist, flaky doneness at around eight minutes, depending on its size. Jiang also says that you can take a similar approach when preparing sea bass on the stovetop, leaving the fish skin side down in a hot, oiled pan for the majority of its cook time to become satisfyingly crisp.