How do you prepare Grouper?

[trolley]

I bought some grouper yesterday at the farmers market. today, i baked it in some salt, ginger and soy and it came out chewy and bad. how do you prepare this fish? it came out like the texture of scallop. was it even grouper? i don't even know anymore!

[scubadoo97]

I've purchased fish from a "green" market. The venders sell frozen fillets. I didn't get grouper but all the fillets I purchased were rubbery and I assume it was from how it was frozen. I cook a lot of fresh fish and have never had a problem.

Grouper when cooked through is flaky and a little firm relative to other fish with smaller flakes like snapper. When under cooked it's chewy and really unpleasant. Unlike other fish that you can eat on the medium/ medium rare side.

[sunshine842]

I either saute it - **lightly** coat it in flour, S&P and saute until just golden (be very careful not to overcook it) -- or I put it on the grill -- brush with oil, season to taste, and as above - grill just until golden.

20 minutes at 350 would leave it pretty overdone -- the rule of thumb is 10 minutes for 1" of thickness -- which would mean it would have had to be been one big honking hunk of fish to bake for 20 minutes.

[trolley]

it was a big hunk of fish. it was over an inch thick and probably about 12". i asked the fish person today at another farmers market and they thought it was odd as well. i'm not a terrible cook but this was as tough as an overdone chicken breast. it was weird. my other crazy idea is that they said it was grouper but it was some other fish. is that possible?

[sunshine842]

it's always possible -- news programs in Florida have been running exposes on fish sold as grouper for years -- it's illegal, but it doesn't stop them.

The width and length of the fish doesn't have anything to do with how long you cook it -- it's all based on thickness (how was the thinner end, by the way? More or less tough?)

[trolley]

this is the thing. when i checked it at 20 minutes there were parts of it still uncooked. that's why i know it wasn't overcooked. i took the bouncy chewy mess out of the oven and then put it on my skillet with some olive oil to finish it off. i am writing to the fish company to tell them of this. i bought salmon yesterday at another market to make up for the mess i created on friday night.

[ipsedixit]

Sounds like you might have undercooked it.

Grouper is generally a light and flaky fish.

[trolley]

it was in the oven for 20 minutes at 350. when i went to check on it i found a bouncy chewy piece of fish.

[thimes]

did you buy and cook a whole grouper? a filet?

[trolley]

it was a fillet