How to Buy Whole Fish
Whole pan-baked fish looks really impressive and insanely easy to cook, but some home cooks are put off by the idea of cleaning, scrubbing, or otherwise handling fish intestines. The good news is that any fishmonger at any decent seafood counter will have fish ready for you – you just have to use your words.
I enjoy having H Mart by my side for many reasons, mostly related to appetizers and condiments, but the seafood section of a Korean grocery store is a source of surprise and joy. Not only could I buy a whole giant squid if I wanted to, but they also have this handy table hanging over their seafood counter.
I really love the fish card. I even saved this photo in my favorite file so that I can refer to it when I visit other seafood counters other than H Mart, and also because I enjoy contemplating its simplistic beauty. But even if you don’t live near the H Mart, the table offers some tips on how to order whole fish. If you don’t want to carry the fish map image with you in your phone, that’s okay; in fact, you only need to know a few phrases.
If you want the fish to remain intact, on the bone, with the muzzle intact – as in Figure 5 – ask a friendly fishmonger to “peel, gut, and gills” the fish, but do not remove the head and fins (this also applies as a “dressed fish” ). If you want to go a little further, you can ask to remove the fins, tail, and head (see Fig. 3) to create a fish-in-the-shell, but the heads make a great supply and – if you fry the fish – the tail can sometimes be eaten … (I love eating fried catfish tail fins.)
You can also ask for a “butterfly fillet,” where the fish is scaled and peeled, the head is removed and cut either on the back or on the belly of the fish, leaving two small fillets joined along one side. (Something like the number 7 in our fish diagram, except that the fish still has a head). If you are anxious and don’t have a chart to refer to, remember that any good fishmonger can answer your questions, so don’t be intimidated by not knowing the “right” fish words. If you don’t need a head, you can even say, “Please behead it for me.” Dude fish will know what you mean, even if you phrased it in a weird and dark way.