The Secret of Grilled Chilean Sea Bass

Published July 1, 2001.

Undercooked, this fish in inedible. Buy thick fillets and cook them for a long, long time.

The Problem

When grilled at home, this popular fish can easily taste too fishy -- nothing like the mild yet rich-flavored fillets served in your favorite restaurant.

The Goal

Firm, delicious Chilean sea bass fillets with crisp, seared exteriors, cooked at home on the backyard grill.

The Solution

Choose fillets of even, 1 1/4-inch thickness, and treat them unlike any other fish -- grill them thoroughly, until the entire fillet is opaque and fully cooked.

list of recipes

America’s Test Kitchen is a 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated magazines and is the workday destination for more than three dozen test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes until we understand how and why they work and arrive at the best version. We also test kitchen equipment and supermarket ingredients in search of brands that offer the best value and performance. You can watch us work by tuning in to America’s Test Kitchen (www.americastestkitchen.com) on public television.