There it is at the seafood market, a whole fish, gleaming fresh, eyes bulging, looking like it just flopped up from the ocean. It's so gorgeous you have to buy it. The question is: What the heck are you supposed to do with it?

The answer is simple: Just about anything. There are few things easier to cook than a whole fish. Not only is a whole fish more beautiful to serve than a fillet, it tastes better too. Like any other meat cooked on the bone, fish cooked in the round is moister and more flavorful.

Even better, it's incredibly flexible. You can use almost any cooking technique and you'll get a very different dish each time.

Probably the easiest is simply steaming it, Chinese fashion: Put the fish on a plate; sprinkle it with shredded ginger, green onions and a little soy sauce; put the plate in a steamer and cook. In 10 or 15 minutes, you'll have a perfectly moist, beautifully fragrant dish.

No, wait, maybe it's roasting: Stuff the cavity with herbs and lemon slices, put the fish on a baking sheet, scatter lemon slices on top and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. The skin will crisp slightly and the meat will pick up hints of the herbs and lemon.

Or you can grill it over a medium-hot fire or under the broiler; all the fish needs to be complete is a light drizzling of flavored oil.

The list goes on: You can poach a whole fish in a pan of simmering, fragrant fish broth. You can deep-fry it by dusting it with flour or cornstarch and submerging it in bubbling oil. Use a slightly lower temperature of 350 degrees to avoid scorching the outside before the center is cooked.

What about scaling and gutting?

Forget about them: Any store that sells whole fish will also do most of the advance preparation for you as well. Do not pass up this service.

Gutting a fish is something that all cooks should do once or twice to familiarize themselves with its anatomy, but that's a chore that can safely be left to the professionals most of the time, too.

This leaves you with only a bit of neatening up when you get home — basically, just removing the fins. The best tool is poultry shears. Trim the fins behind the gills and along the back, and the two pairs underneath. Trimming the tail may be necessary for the fish to fit in the pan. Your fishmonger may do it if you ask.

The only thing left is to score the skin lightly along the midsection on both sides about every 2 inches. Use a sharp knife; the cut should just break the skin and the first layer of flesh, but not go to the bone. This helps the heat penetrate to the center of the fish.

OK, how are you going to cook that fish?

The most important choice is whether you want to use dry heat, which will firm the flesh and crisp the skin, or moist heat, which will turn the flesh silky and leave the skin moist.

Do you want to show off the natural flavor of the fish, or introduce other ingredients that offer more complexity? Broiling and steaming share an affinity for showing off a fish's subtle flavor.

Steam a fish Chinese-style, and just before it's done, bury it in a mound of sweet green pea shoots moistened with sesame oil.

Or broil it and serve with a drizzle of good olive oil and a dash of sea salt. Just a bit of basil-flavored olive oil will emphasize the herbal flavors of the fish.

Braising keeps the fish moist and gives you the opportunity to add other flavors. Add enough liquid to come barely halfway up the fish — with the cooking juices, it'll be practically covered by the time it's done. For a Provencal braise, lay the fish on a bed of sliced tomatoes and black olives, and pour over it a quick broth made from herbs, white wine and water. When it emerges from the oven 45 minutes to an hour later, you'll have a fragrant fish stew.

Pan-roasting is a combination of sauteing and roasting that crisps the skin but allows the center to cook more gently.

Wrapping the fish in prosciutto allows you to add another layer of texture and is even better when you loosely stuff the fish with sauteed mushrooms.

Roasting works similarly but with less-intense heat, allowing you to incorporate more ingredients. You might stuff the fish with a sprig of rosemary and lemon slices, and cook it on a bed of herb-scented fingerling potatoes.