Grilled Fish on a Stick (Steckerlfisch)
Steckerlfisch Say it: SHTEH-kerl-fish
Steckerlfisch — literally 'fish on a stick' — is Bavaria's beloved beer-garden grill. Whole mackerel or trout are rubbed with lemon, garlic and paprika, threaded onto long wooden sticks and cooked slowly over charcoal until the skin blisters and turns crisp. The smell of smoke and lemon drifting across a Biergarten in summer is part of the experience; at home a kettle grill does the job. Eat it hot with your fingers, with bread, radishes and a cold beer.
Grilled Fish on a Stick (Steckerlfisch)
Steckerlfisch
Pronounced SHTEH-kerl-fish
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Level
- Easy
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: contains fish. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Fish
Marinade
To grill
Method
Rinse the fish inside and out under cold water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. With a sharp knife, make 2–3 shallow diagonal slashes on each side of the thickest part, cutting just to the bone so the marinade and the heat get in.
Whisk the oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and marjoram in a small bowl until it forms a loose paste.
Rub the paste all over the fish, inside the belly and into the slashes. Cover and refrigerate for 30–60 minutes — no longer, or the lemon starts to firm up the flesh.
If using wooden sticks, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes so they do not burn. Thread each fish onto a stick, pushing it through the mouth and along the backbone out through the tail, so the fish sits straight and secure.
Light a charcoal grill and let it burn down to medium heat — you should be able to hold your hand at grate level for 4–5 seconds. Oil the grate well.
Lay the sticks on the grill with the handles over the edge. Grill for 6–8 minutes per side, brushing with a little oil, until the skin is blistered, golden and crisp and the flesh at the bone is opaque and flakes easily.
Rest the fish on the sticks for 2 minutes, then slide off or serve on the stick with lemon wedges. Eat with your fingers, pulling the flesh away from the backbone.
Regional variants
Mackerel is the classic, but trout, Arctic char and small sea bass work just as well — Alpine cooks often use char from mountain lakes. Some Franconian grillers leave out the paprika and baste the fish with beer instead of oil.
Cook's notes
- Medium heat is everything: too hot and the skin burns before the inside cooks. Keep a spray bottle of water handy for flare-ups from the dripping oil.
- Ask the fishmonger to gut and scale the fish but leave the head on — it keeps the fish moist and holds it firmly on the stick.
- No sticks? Grill the fish in a hinged fish basket or directly on a well-oiled grate, turning once.
Serve with
Bread or a pretzel, sliced radishes, and a cold lager or wheat beer.
Make ahead and storage
Rub the fish with the marinade up to 2 hours ahead and keep chilled; grill just before serving. Leftover fish flakes nicely into a salad.
