Branzino

In Korean, ssam literally means “wrapped”—set the fish in the center of the table and pull the meat off the bones, using chopsticks to fill lettuce wraps along with radish salad, ssamjang, kimchi, and rice. Roasting a whole fish—skin, bones, and all—is surprisingly easy, and the flesh stays moist and flavorful even if you overcook it a touch. 

If you can learn how to cook a whole fish, you'll have summer's most impressive dinner in your back pocket.

While fried whitefish or smoked whitefish is most commonly eaten during Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Andy Baraghani goes a little rogue.

The stuffing can be varied easily. Try lemon with tarragon, or orange with rosemary.

This technique will work on any fish—red snapper, salmon, and branzino, and mackerel included.

This Mustard-Crusted Branzino is great butterflied—a quick and easy method for cooking a whole fish. Ask your fishmonger to do it for you.

Grilling whole fish is not as tricky as it sounds. We tie ours with kitchen twine, which makes them easy to handle.

An at-home version of the whole fish recipe from Brooklyn’s Talde restaurant. 

The miso marinade lightly cures the fish, which results in a pleasantly firm texture and great flavor.