Cooking Sheephead with Chef Rob Kraatz
Chef Robert Kraatz of the Flora Bama Yacht Club joins Intercoastal Safaris again. This time, Rob shows us a unique way to prepare sheephead using the entire fish. Watch the video above to see how it all comes together.
Whole Sheephead with Pineapple Salsa
- Sheepshead (gutted, fins removed, scaled or not your choice)
- whole pineapple
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 red onion
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1.5 cups brown sugar
- 3/4 cups teriyaki
- 2 oz lime juice
- 1 oz rice wine vinegar
- 3 Tbsp kosher salt
1. After Gutting and removing the fins from your fish make vertical cuts in the fishes side starting about 1 to 1.5 inches back from the gills and spacing the cuts about 1 to 2 inches apart.
2. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of salt on each side of the fish, set aside and let rest.
3. Clean the pineapple by removing the top and bottom, and then removing the skin. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, don’t worry, it’s very simple and there are a multitude of videos out there. After you’ve cleaned the pineapple slice and dice into 1/4 inch squares, removing the core. Don’t throw away that core! We’re gonna use everything!
4. Cut the red onion in half. Dice one half and cut the other section into quarters. Put the diced pineapple and diced red onion into a mixing bowl. Set the quartered red onion with the pineapple core.
5. Remove a third of the cilantro, mince and add to mixing bowl.
6. Add 1/4 cup of teriyaki and 1 Tbsp of salt to mixing bowl, toss a few times and set aside.
7. Combine 1.5 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup teriyaki, 2 oz lime juice, and 1 oz rice wine vinegar into separate mixing bowl.
8. Place third of remaining cilantro onto parchment paper on an oven safe pan. Place fish on cilantro and rub with half of the marinade. Flip the fish over and rub the rest of the marinade onto the fish. Stuff the pineapple core with red onion and garlic inside, under and on top of the fish. Place remaining third of Cilantro on top of fish.
9. Place fish in 350-degree oven. Cook between 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the fish. You want to see completely cooked white flaky meat from the skin to the bottom of the cuts you made.
10.Remove the outside cilantro, pineapple, red onions and garlic. Transfer your fish to a serving platter and top it with the pineapple salsa! Dig in and enjoy!
