Name: Cast Iron Blackened Snapper with Rémoulade Sauce
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Creole & Cajun
Ingredients: 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 1/2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish; 1 teaspoon capers , rinsed and minced; 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 4 (6- to 8-ounce) skin-on red snapper fillets , 3/4 inch thick; 2 teaspoons paprika; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander; Salt and pepper; 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel; 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Why This Recipe Works

A cast-iron skillet is the ideal vessel for getting perfectly blackened fish. The pan can be heated until it is white-hot and it retains the heat beautifully, which is key to creating the dark brown, crusty, sweet-smoky, toasted-spice exterior that is the hallmark of this Creole dish. But we also encountered some challenges. To begin with, the snapper fillets tended to curl up in the pan and cook unevenly. To prevent curling, we simply scored the skin. Next, we turned to the coating on the fish fillets. For a blackened but not burnt exterior, we made a small amount of a super flavorful spice mixture with sweet paprika, garlic powder, coriander, fennel, and cayenne and coated our fish on both sides. However, this produced fish with harsh, raw flavors. To address this, we made sure that we added enough oil to the pan with the lean snapper fillets to bloom our spices properly. To complement the smoky, spicy snapper, we made a tangy, cooling rémoulade sauce with creamy mayonnaise, briny capers, spicy Dijon mustard, sweet pickle relish, and bright lemon juice.

Before You Begin

If your knife is not sharp enough to cut through the skin easily, try a serrated knife. It is important to keep the skin on during cooking; remove it afterward if you choose not to serve it.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position, place 12-inch cast-iron skillet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk mayonnaise, lemon juice, relish, capers, and mustard together in bowl; set aside for serving.

Using sharp knife, make 3 to 4 shallow slashes about 1 inch apart on skin side of each fillet, being careful not to cut into flesh. Combine paprika, garlic powder, coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, ground fennel, and cayenne in bowl. Pat snapper dry with paper towels and rub evenly with spice mixture.

When oven reaches 500 degrees, remove skillet from oven using potholders and place over medium-high heat; turn off oven. Being careful of hot skillet handle, add oil and heat until just smoking. Place snapper flesh side down in skillet and cook until very dark brown, about 2 minutes.

Gently flip snapper and continue to cook until very dark brown on second side, fillets flake apart when gently prodded with tip of paring knife, and fish registers 140 degrees, about 2 minutes. Serve with rémoulade.