Looking for that Asian-style crispy skinned fish without wasting a pan full of oil and stinking up your kitchen?
Do it on your Weber charcoal grill and get a super crispy skin and crazy moist interior!
To get that nice crispy skin on our grilled fish we’re going to grill the fish as close to the charcoal as possible. We want our fish scaled and seasoned, but we don’t want it touching the actual charcoal. The Small Grate Technique will get the fish as close to the red-hot embers as possible without any ashy contact.
Small Grate Technique
In this Pseudo-Caveman technique, a smaller grate is used to place the food immediately above the hotbed of charcoal. Use an 18″ grate in the 22″ Weber charcoal grill or even in a 26″. This technique also works well with 22″ grates inside the Ranch Kettle.
Getting Crispy Salty Skin
I slice into the meat 3 or 4 times on each side. Slicing through the skin and meat, but not the bone, gives more surface areas to season with salt and smoke and heat. Place the fish on the cold grate and place the grate directly onto a single layer of nested hot charcoal briquettes. Lump charcoal can also be used. Cook with the lid closed to prevent flare-ups. Open flames will leave a bitter taste.
Flip the fish after 2-4 minutes. Keep flipping and rotating as needed to cook the surfaces of the fish thoroughly. If needed, move the smaller grate to the indirect side of the charcoal grate to let the fish cook indirectly for 5-10 minutes. The Pompano I use in the video cook in about 15 minutes.