Whole Fish Baked In Sea Salt Recipes

WHOLE SALT-BAKED FISH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Stuff the cavity of the fish with lemon slices, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix the salt and egg whites with your hands; it will become the consistency of wet sand.
• In a large baking dish or rimmed baking sheet that is large enough to fit the entire fish (it's okay if the fish only just fits), lay one-third of the salt mixture down, roughly in the shape of the fish. Place the fish on top of the salt mixture and pack the remaining salt mixture around the fish, leaving exposed the area from the eyes to the nose, and also the tail fin. The salt mixture should fully encase the fish, but may not fill the pan. In fact, unless you use a really narrow pan, you'll probably leave most of the pan exposed.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the fish is 130 to 135 degrees F. Depending on the exact size of your fish, your cooking time may vary. Don't break the salt crust while it's cooking or you'll let the juices escape. If you have one of those nice thermometers with the wires that you can leave in the oven while you cook to determine temperature, use that, and pack the salt around the probe to seal it in before cooking. If you don't have one of those fancy thermometers, check the temp by going through the exposed mouth with a probe thermometer. Once done, remove the fish from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• While the fish is resting, whisk together the lemon juice and zest, oil, Dijon, salt, and pepper to make a lemon vinaigrette to serve over the fish.
• To remove the fish from the salt shell, use a butter knife and a wooden mallet or spoon. Like a paleontologist, I try to guess where the dorsal fin would be. Hit the fish right there, in the middle of the back (remember it's laying on its side). I place the tip of the butter knife where the dorsal fin was and tap it with the mallet or spoon, putting it in and giving it a wiggle. I score all the way around the fish, like I'm excavating it, so I can remove the salt dome in one piece. It doesn't mess anything up if you don't get it off in the one piece, but it just looks cooler if you do. Once you've gone all the way around the outline of the fish, remove the top part of the salt dome.
• The skin is a little chewy, but it still tastes good, so help yourself to a piece. Cook's reward. Then go under the skin with a fork, down to the spine, and slide across the bottom to filet the fish from the spine. You might get it all in one filet. But most times you have to go back and clean it up.
• Then take the mallet and butter knife, and place the knife at the base of the spine where it meets the head. Tap the handle end of the butter knife with the mallet to crack the spine. Remove the entire spine and bones. With a fork, slide along the bottom of the fish, between the flesh and the salt crust, to remove the other fish filet. You probably won't get the skin off cleanly with this filet, and that's fine.
• This will yield two 10-ounce (or so) filets. Place each filet on a plate and finish with a spoonful of the lemon vinaigrette and a sprinkle of salt and parsley on top.

SALT BAKED FISH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Remove fins from fish, or ask your fish monger to do so. They can be bony and difficult.
• Stuff the cavity of the fish with the herbs (stems and all) and sliced citrus.
• Mix salt and egg whites in a large mixing bowl until the mixture becomes the consistency of wet sand.
• Put a layer of the salt mixture onto the sheet pan. and place the stuffed fish on top.
• Smear the rest of the salt mixture over the body of the fish - you can leave the head and tail exposed. It doesn't need to be too thick, just thick enough to form a coating that isn't see-through or cracking.
• Place the fish in the oven and bake about 8-10 minutes per pound. To see if the fish is done, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the flesh. When it is about 125 degrees F, it's ready.
• Gently rack open the salt crust - I used a rolling pin. Remember you are just trying to loosen the crust, you don't want to smoosh the fish inside!
• Remove crust and peel back the skin of the fish. Lift out the flesh, then carefully remove the backbone, and lift the remaining flesh.

WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SEA SALT

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 450°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil, leaving generous overhang. Combine first 3 ingredients in small skillet. Toast spices over medium heat until beginning to pop, stirring frequently, about 9 minutes. Cool spices. Coarsely crush in mortar with pestle or in heavy resealable plastic bag with mallet.
• Rinse fish inside and out; pat dry. Sprinkle all of spice mixture in fish cavity. Stuff with leek and lemon slices.
• Whisk egg whites and water in large bowl to blend. Add salt. Stir until salt is evenly moistened. Spread 2 cups salt mixture in 4-inch-wide, 12-inch-long strip (or use more to equal length of fish) on prepared sheet. Place fish on salt. Cover fish completely with remaining salt mixture, pressing to seal.
• Bake fish 25 minutes. Let stand in crust 10 minutes.
• Using large knife, rap crust sharply to crack. Brush salt from fish. Cut into portions and serve, passing extra-virgin olive oil and lemon wedges alongside.

WHOLE FISH BAKED IN SALT

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• 2. Rinse the fish with cold water, pat it dry and refrigerate until just before cooking.
• 3. Pour a fine layer of salt in the bottom of an oven-proof baking dish that is just slightly larger than the fish. Lay two bay leaves on the salt, then place the fish on the bay leaves. Place the peppercorns inside the belly cavity of the fish, then top the fish with the remaining 2 bay leaves. Pour the remaining salt over the fish to cover it, leaving the tail fin exposed if necessary.
• 3. Place the fish on the middle rack in the center of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. You cannot test the fish for doneness - you simply have to trust the timing. Remove the fish from the oven and gently crack off the layer of salt, removing as much of it as you can. Most of the skin will come off the fish as well - what doesn't come off when you remove the salt you need to remove gently, using a sharp knife.
• 4. Remove the fillets divide the fish among four slightly warmed dinner plates. Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with the chervil, if desired.