The original recipe which I used to make is by Ina Paarman and recommended for whole, butterflied yellowtail. It also works a treat with snoek, and in my version I basted the fish, and later the bacon itself, with a mixture of lemon juice and sweet soy sauce (such as kecap manis), which enables caramelisation. You could use ponzu sauce instead of sweet soy, and perhaps a little honey; or mix honey, dark soy sauce and lemon juice together.

Ingredients

1 whole firm-fleshed fish such as snoek or yellowtail, butterflied

200 g streaky bacon

45 ml lemon juice

45 ml sweet soy sauce such as kecap manis

Plenty of cooking oil for the grid and the outside of the fish

Salt and pepper to taste

1 folding, hinged braai grid (essential, you will not be able to turn the whole fish on the braai otherwise)

Method

Clean the fish and pat dry. Mix together the lemon juice and sweet soy sauce. Add a little salt and pepper and stir.

Salt the fish (not with too heavy a hand) and leave it in the fridge to firm up for half an hour or so. Remove from the fridge half an hour before you plan to cook it.

Once the hinged braai grid is clean, brush it down with a wire brush to dislodge any remaining dust or ash, then brush it well, on the insides of the grid, with cooking oil. If you don’t do this, the fish will stick to the grid and there will be an unholy mess.

Using a clean basting brush (not the one you used to oil the grid), brush cooking oil all over the skin side and the bacon side of the fish, as extra insurance against sticking to the grid.

Lay the fish on the lower half of the grid, skin side down. Brush the flesh side of the fish liberally with half of the sweet soy and lemon baste. Lay out strips of streaky bacon all over the same side so that you can barely see the fish at all.

Close the grid and cook bacon side down for 5 minutes. Now brush the remainder of the baste all over the bacon side, to enhance caramelisation. Return it to the grid, still bacon side down, for 5 more minutes, then turn and cook it skin side down for another 5 minutes. It should be ready.

Garlic bread would not go amiss. DM168/TGIFood

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