Inihaw Na Isda (Grilled Fish)

Grilled Pompano

Fried Pompano is good but grilled Pompano is way good. All you do is scale the fish, gut it and gill it. Make a couple of slits diagonally on both sides. Generously sprinkle salt all over and let it sit while you light the grill. You can add black pepper too if you like. It should be ready to grill by the time the charcoal is ready if you are in a hurry but the longer it sits for the salt to penetrate the meat the better it will taste.

I used a fish griller that is why the fish looks as if it was under the grill and sitting directly on the charcoal. Don’t forget to spray the fish griller with oil so the fish won’t stick and ruins it when you take it out.

Daikon radish that’s shaved with a potato peeler then squeezed to expel the bitterness and dressed with vinegar and salt is a great accompaniment. You may add a pinch of sugar with the vinegar to make the flavor more interesting.

Grilled Red Drum (Redfish on the half shell)

Large fish like Red Drum (Redfish) have tougher meat and not as delicate as other fishes of the same size. Smaller Redfish meat have better flavor than the bigger ones and also more tender. However, the minimum size limit to catch them is 20” with maximum of 28”. They are a popular sport fish and sought after by anglers fishing the bay. I’m one of them and I have caught them as big as 42” before Texas Parks and Wildlife put slotted size limits on them.

Years ago, there were no limits as to sizes or daily bag and possession of this fish. And the small sizes up to about 12” are called Rat Reds and are very flavorful and tender. As of this writing, we can only keep 3 redfish of the legal sizes per day per person. One bull red that is up to 42 or 48” can still be kept but tagging is required and one tag is the limit per person but is renewable.

Because the scales of this fish are very hard and very large, it is impossible to even try to scale this fish. It is even hard to fillet it without the aid of an electric knife and strong hand muscles.

By talking to other anglers, I gathered information on the best ways to cook and eat this fish. The big ones like this or much bigger (I’ve caught them before too) are not good fried in cornmeal or batter, even in small thin slices. The best way I found is to grill them on the half shell.

Fillet the fish but don’t skin it. Leave the scales on. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the meat side and squeeze some lemon juice on it. Grill it with the grill cover on, scales side down for about 16 to 20 minutes or until the meat is done. It is done when it flakes or separates when pierced with a fork. The scales and skin may burn but it’s OK.

It cooks in its own juice too.

Serve as is and just scoop or fork the meat off the skin. The meat comes off very easily from the skin.