Made Salt-Baked Fish the other day!! Surprisingly easy, with fantastic results, although it’s such a waste that you can’t have the skin. =( I like fish skin.
So.
Ingredients:
About 500g course salt (sea salt is better if you can afford it)
Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
1 Egg
Chilli flakes
Pepper
White fish (whole, you can’t do this with a fillet)
Thyme
Bay Leaves
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Mix together the ingredients for the salt covering. I used lemon-y chilli flavoured salt here, but you can experiment with the different salt flavours. The lemon does permeate the fish really well though, and the aroma that wafts around the house while it bakes is absolutely fantastic.
You also need to add some water to the salt – it should be the texture of wet snow.
Stuff the fish with the thyme and bay leaves. I’m pretty sure (something to try the next time) that you can try other herbs as well, like lemongrass and the like. Then lay the fish on a bed of salt.
Then cover the fish with salt, and bake for 35-40 mins. (It’s really supposed to be 40, but I really hate overcooked fish, so I stopped at 35 just to be safe, because the salt retains a lot of residual heat, and the fish will keep cooking for a bit.)
When it’s done, take the fish out, carve open the salt crust, and voila! Beautiful, succulent fish that just flakes off.
Oh, and remember to line whatever roasting tray you use – salt will ruin your tray otherwise.
Bon appetit!
Wow! I love how you you give all these little tips to make sure that if we try this recipe, we’re on the right track. (:
Like: The salt should be the texture of wet snow. Or, line your roasting tray, salt will ruin it otherwise.
(:
=) Thank you. You should try it with chicken!! The stories my grandmother used to tell me about ruining the wok. haha.
How are your food adventures?
Hello! I wanted to try this too, haha. I saw something like this on Jamie; he was doing this campfire-style on some beach in Spain. It looked really delish. Good to know it can be done in the oven too.
I normally do herb baked fish, but something as simple as salt baked? Didn’t even cross my mind! Sometimes something as simple as that, works wonders.
Beautiful.
Fiona: it’s actually the Jamie one, except that I added flavor to the salt and I used a different fish. How good is the ‘Jamie Does’ series?
Celeste: thank you for the compliment. 🙂 how do you do your herb baked fish?