Pan-searing to achieve a crispy skin is one of the most delicious and quick ways to cook a piece of a fish! To nail shatteringly crunchy skin every time, you just need dry skin, hot oil and press down lightly to help the skin contact heat as it cooks. I’m making a Crispy Skin Barramundi today, but this recipe can be used for any fish with skin that goes crispy.
Crispy Skin Barramundi (or other fish!)
Barramundi is one of Australia’s favourite fish. It’s loved over here for its meaty, juicy flesh and its wonderful skin, which crisps up to form a fantastic glass-like sheet of golden fish crackling when cooked properly.
It helps that barramundi is available everywhere these days such as all the mainstream grocery stores, and is one of the better value fish around. Of course, as with any seafood, fresher and better quality fish costs more but is always worth it!
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for how to cook barramundi with crispy skin. But the method applied in this recipe will work for any fish with skin that will go crispy (no, not all fish gets crispy skin!).
What you need to cook fish with crispy skin
Fish, oil, salt and pepper!
Fish fillets with the skin on – Yes, shocking, I know, we need fish fillets with the skin on! 😂 It should come pin boned (ie. all bones removed including the tiny ones along the lateral line), scaled, clean and ready to cook. This work is why we pay a premium for fish fillets at seafood shops, compared to buying a whole fish that we have to clean and fillet ourselves!
As mentioned above, I’m using barramundi today. For other fish, see the list here: Fish With Skin That Goes Crispy. That page also includes a list of fish that will not go crispy.
Olive oil, or other cooking oil of choice.
Anybody who tries to tell you that crispy skin is possible with butter is lying to you because butter is ~15% water, which stops the skin from going crispy. Ghee and clarified butter, on the other hand, is another story and makes a wonderfully flavoured cooking fat for fish!
Salt and pepper – Not just for seasoning, the salt also helps the skin go crispy due to its dessicating effect.
How to make fish skin crispy
Dry skin. Hot oil. Put fish in pan skin side down. Press down lightly to make the skin seal. Easy, right?
Note: If you’re cooking salmon, use this recipe instead: Crispy Skin Salmon.
Dry skin – Pat skin dry with a paper towel or clean tea towels. The drier the skin, the better the crisping. Crispy anything doesn’t like moisture because the moisture has to evaporate first before crispiness can start to happen, which takes a lot of energy.
Slit skin (recommended for thick fillets) – A recommended but not critical step to ensure more even cooking of the flesh and skin, is to cut some shallow slits in the skin. This also helps prevent skin curling and shrinking away from the sides which is a common pitfall people experience when cooking fish.
This is particularly recommended for thick fillets, such as the barramundi pictured in post.
Skin scoring is a recommended rather than must-do step because experienced cooks can likely cook almost any fish just as well without without slitting the skin. But for less experienced cooks, it definitely does help with more even cooking.
How to score fish skin – With the fish flesh side down, use your fingers to squeeze the thick “hump” of the fish fillet to tighten the skin. This makes it easier to cut the slit.
Using a sharp knife, cut slits in the skin, as follows:
– 4 cm long, 1 cm apart, 3 mm deep (1.6″ long, 0.4″ apart, 0.1″ deep)
– Cut through the skin and a tiny bit into the flesh. Don’t worry, slits will not cause the fish to lose moisture and dry out!
Season fish – Sprinkle both the flesh and skin side with salt and pepper just before cooking. Don’t season the fish ahead of cooking as it will draw moisture out of the fish skin, making it wet → compromises crispiness!
Hot oil and a light press – Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Look for shimmering oil and little wisps of smoke as a sign it’s hot enough. As soon as you see them, place the barramundi fillets in skin side down.
Using an eggflip or spatula (flexible is best), press down lightly on the fish for 10 seconds. This forces the entire skin to contact the pan’s heat, which will soon “set” the skin and flesh benath, preventing the fillet from curling and thus promoting even cooking of the skin.
Cook skin 2 to 3 minutes until lightly crispy – Cook the fish skin side down until it’s light golden and quite crispy (lift up to peek). For this barramundi, we will finish cooking in the oven during which time the skin will get fully crispy.
Oven 10 minutes for THICK fillets – For thick fillets, transfer the fish to the oven in the skillet. Do not flip, leave the fish skin side down.
For thin fillets, just turn the fish and cook the flesh side in the pan.
General note – I don’t finish crispy skin salmon in the oven because it’s served medium-rare (50°C/122°F) as well being an oily fish which means it’s more forgiving. But for other fish, we target a slightly higher internal temperature so it’s best to finish in the oven so it cooks through more evenly.
Remove from oven – Cook the fish in the oven for 10 minutes or until the internal temperature is 55°C / 131°F at the thickest point. This is when the fish is fully cooked but at optimal juiciness. If you don’t have a meat thermometer (but you should, it’s the 20th century! I use a Thermapen), check to see if the flesh flakes easily.
Rest 3 minutes – Place the barramundi on a rack skin side up to rest for 3 minutes. Resting allows the juices in the barramundi to redistribute throughout the flesh so it’s juicier when eating. If you skip the rest, the juices will run everywhere when you cut into it rather than staying in the flesh and ending up in your mouth … sad!
Resting done, time to eat! See below for suggestions for sides.
What and how to serve with Crispy Skin Fish
There’s two big rules here:
Always serve crispy skin fish with the skin side up; and
Only sauce it just before serving! Fish skin is actually quite delicate, it won’t hold crispiness for as long as, say, crispy baked chicken or chicken wings.
Saucy Sides
I like to serve crispy skin fish with “saucy” sides that do double duty as a sauce and side dish. And sometimes, they cover my starch + vegetable quota too, such as the Lentil Ragout pictured throughout this post!
French Lentil Ragout (as pictured in post)
Easy no-stir Lemon Herb Risotto (as pictured in post)
Pea Puree – vibrant green colour looks terrific against the fish!
Creamy mashed cauliflower – Very fine dining restaurant worthy. Blitz thoroughly to get it as smooth as possible. You could even pass it through a fine mesh strainer!
French Lentil Ragout (seriously delicious!) 
Easy BAKED Lemon Herb Risotto (no stir!) 
Pea Puree makes a beautiful sauce/side for fish
Sauces for Crispy Skin Fish
And here is a selection of sauces for fish
Lemon butter for fish (Beurre noisette)
Lemon Cream Sauce (use slider to scale recipe down)
Dill Garlic Herb Sauce* for fish (scale recipe down)
* Make these in the same pan while the fish is resting.
Creamy white wine sauce for fish 
Dill herb butter sauce for fish 
Bearnaise sauce
If you try this recipe, tell us what you made in the comments section below! What fish you used, what sides and what sauce. Other readers love getting new ideas – as do I! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Crispy Skin Fish
Ingredients
- 180g/6oz x 2 barramundi or other fish fillets , skin on, pin boned (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable, canola or grapeseed oil)
- 3/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt, Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Sauces and sides – see Note 7 below
Instructions
Preparation:
- Thick Fillets definition: Fish > 2.5cm / 1" thick at the thickest point. Best finished in the oven. (Note 3)
- Pan type: Non-stick pan, an oven proof one if you have Thick Fillets. (Note 4)
- Preheat oven (for Thick Fillets): Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
Cooking:
- Dry skin: Pat skin dry with paper towels. For extra precaution, leave the fish fillets in the fridge skin side up, uncovered, for an hour. (I rarely do this)
- Scoring skin (Note 5): For Thick Fillets, score the skin by cutting slashes into the skin as pictured in post. 4cm slashes 1cm apart, 2 – 3mm deep, through the skin and ever so slightly into the flesh (1.6" long, 0.4" apart, 0.1" deep)
- Season fish: Sprinkle the flesh and skin with the salt and pepper just before cooking.
- Heat oil well: Heat oil in a non stick pan over medium high heat until you see the first small wisps of smoke.
- Press fish down: Place one fillet into the pan skin side down, then use your fingers or spatula to press down lightly for 10 seconds to allow the skin to seal flat against the hot surface. Repeat with the other fillet (PROS: Do both at the same time!).
- Cook skin 2 – 3 minutes: Cook the skin side for 2 to 3 minutes until it's crispy in the centre and golden. Lift up to check.
- Transfer Thick Fillets to oven: Transfer to oven for 10 minutes (do not flip, keep skin side still down – goes crispier!) or until the internal temperature is 55°C/131°F. (Note 6)
- Thin fillets: Turn and cook the flesh side in the pan.
- Rest 3 minutes: Transfer fish to a rack with the skin side UP. Rest for 3 minutes.
- Serving: To serve, place on a plate skin side UP. Do not pour sauce on the skin until just before serving else it will soften the fish skin. See ingredients above for suggested sauces and sides!
Recipe Notes:
- Barramundi – as used in this recipe
- Bream
- Blue eye cod / trevalla
- Cod
- Jewfish
- Ocean perch
- Orange roughy
- See Bass
- Salmon – see Crispy Skin Salmon recipe
- Snapper
- Tilapia
- Trout – Ocean trout and river trout
- French Lentil Ragout (as pictured in post)
- Easy no-stir Lemon Herb Risotto (as pictured in post)
- Pea Puree – vibrant green colour looks terrific against the fish!
- Creamy mashed cauliflower
- Creamy white wine sauce*
- Bearnaise Sauce
- Garlic butter for fish*
- Lemon butter for fish (Beurre noisette)
- Lemon Cream Sauce (scale recipe down)
Nutrition Information:
Love fish as much as I do? Here you go!
Life of Dozer
Runaway blueberries, Dozer is there in a flash to hoover them up. #OnTheJob
Best barramundi we have ever eaten ❤
Not sure what I am doing wrong? Taste is amazing, but skin is soggy and not crispy.
Hi, Nagi. Your recipe is one of the best for recipe. I am interesting Crispy Skin Barramundi recipe and you describe it very good. I try your recipe at home and it tasted just wow. Thank you.
Thanks for yet another great recipe, Nagi! We had some delicious fresh barramundi fillets tonight – perfectly cooked using your method. I served them on a colcannon mash, with a fresh tomato, onion and caper salsa. Divine!
YUM
Cooked barramundi for the first time and it was amazing!
Hello, Thank you for the great recipe and even greater cooking instructions. Have you ever cut the skin off the fillet or steak and cooked it separately? It is one of my favorite way to serve crispy fish skins. I find it allows me more flexibility on cooking the fish like I can put it in the pan serving side up and I can make a sauce and not ruin the skin. I just put it on top of the fish like a garnish immediately before serving. It looks very pretty as well. Still I loved the recommendation to slit the skin and I love barramundi and ate it when we were in Australia at the fish market in Sydney. It was batter fried and served on a sandwich and was probably one of the most delicious pieces of fish I have ever eaten. So anyway, I ordered some Barramundi filets and I will try cooking them skin on and see how it goes.
I did this with a nice piece of Glacier 51 Toothfish and it was very nice. I’ll definitely try this again. Thank you.
HI, we cooked this tonight with salmon, and it worked perfectly … only that our whole kitchen was covered in grease after that.
Im currently calorie counting. I think this is the correct one?
https://calorie.net.au/in/barramundi-aquacultured-fillets-baked-or-grilled-no-added-fat/
Are you nutritional guides for the fish or all of it?
Always have trout on hand and will try this. Looks delicious!
Mmm yum! I love trout! Perfect for crispy skin 🙂 N x
Hey Nagi – It makes little (or no sense to me) using oven for cooking 1 or 2 pieces of fish, like barramundi, for quick dinner. It’s something I do regularly, and after turning fish, I also press lightly for ~ 1 min, which helps cooking it through but “just”, not to lose any juices! I have a photo but no option to attach :(. Cheers
Hi Sergy! I hear you, it DOES sound crazy to turn on the oven for a tiny piece of fish, or two! But it honestly does cook it through more evenly for thicker cuts. You’ll find it you cook a thick cut 2.5m / 1″+ entirely on the stove, the outer band will be over cooked before the inside is cooked! But certainly for thinner fillets, by all means cook it entirely on the stove! N x
Hi Sergy, I do agree with you that it doesn’t make sense to turn on your oven to cook little protein but this recipe focuses on how to get the perfect crispy skin and have the right core temperature at the same time. To do so, you will have to cook the fish using “à l’unilatérale” method (cooking only on one side) and the help of the oven. Best regards.
Ah Charles! Word of the day 🙂 And you out certainly put the goal of the stove-to-oven technique much more eloquently than me! I must re look at my wording 🙂 N x
Unfortunately I can’t give this any stars at present because the skin of my barramundi fillets just stuck to the bottom of the skillet and basically fell off when I tried to check it. Likely my fault rather than the recipe but I had enough oil and dried the skin well. This works fine when I do with salmon so maybe my barramundi wasn’t fresh enough as it was a couple of days old,
Hi Mike – PLEASE tell me you used a non stick skillet!!! If you did then it definitely should not have stuck to the skillet!! 🙂 N xx
Thanks Nagi, that’s what it was – I used one of my Le Creuset cast iron skillets so I’ll try it again with a non stick pan!
See, I knew it would be me because I know (from experience) most of your recipes work first time and every time 🙂
Awwww! That’s what we aim for! First go!
I think you have made a mistake in the directions. You state to cut into the fillet 0.3 mm. That is impossible. I think you meant 3 mm.
Ba ha! What do you mean Ken, you can’t cut so precisely that you can do a 0.3mm slit?? 😂😂😂 Thanks for picking that up! I did mean 3 mm deep. 🙂 N xx
Haha, I think 0.3 mm is a great challenge to strive for 😂
And I think you meant 3cm lol
I’m creating all sorts of confusion here, aren’t I?? 😂 I actually meant 3mm deep, for the slashes for scoring the skin 🙂 N x
Have been cooking fish all my life but have learned three matters I did not know or had not thought of in my first five-minute read ! Thanks heaps ! Do not fry much as you may have gathered but this amount of olive oil does not bother. Easier and methinks cheaper for me to get bream or snapper but am holding my fingers crossed in finding some barra fillets . . . Dozer is simply enjoying the last bits of food rapture . . . . . .
Aww, glad to hear that Eha! 🙂 N x
Thanks Nagi, using barramundi or a sensibly resourced fish this way is sensational, but please don’t reccomend farmed salmon for obvious reasons, and barramundi is so healthy.
Hi Ian! Thanks so much for your thoughtful input. I am aware of the sustainability issues with salmon. To that end, I am quite particular about which salmon I get, opting always for Huon Salmon which is the most ethically produced salmon here in Australia. 🙂 N x
As you have stated elsewhere . . . you post a hugely fun and informative food recipe and teaching service – so greatly beloved around the world. So, for purely informative purposes, I would just like the Aussie readers who are not aware to try and read the recently published and absolutely brilliant book ‘Toxic’ by Richard Flanagan regarding the above topic. Methinks we all owe it to our surrounds to be aware !
I have that book 🙂 N x