Salt-Crusted Fish from Fine Cooking Magazine, April 2011

Remember my telling you that one of the reasons I like Fine Cooking Magazine so much is that it stretches me out of my cooking comfort zone? Today is an example of that happening. In fact, not only was I stretched in the cooking arena, but I was in the photography zone as well since it's really hard to take a decent picture of a salt-crusted fish.

Fine Cooking makes this process as easy as possible by providing step-by-step instructions as well as a great set of pictures on different procedures. The only way it could have been easier would have been if one of their staff showed up and walked through it with me.

It starts with the fish. The magazine suggested black sea bass, trout, striped bass, black cod, or salmon. So, of course, I went with red snapper. I wasn't being ornery; it just happened to be the only whole fish being sold at the fish counter. At least I was able to ascertain that it was very fresh. And already gutted And on sale. Double bonus.

After bringing my fish home, I had to decide what to use to stuff inside it. I decided to use an orange an onion and then wandered out to my nicely growing herb garden to see what I could grab from there. With a handful of parsley and rosemary, I was ready and proceeded to stuff the cavity with my choice of aromatics.

There's another great chart that gives all the information needed on how to prepare the salt coating. It gives four different options for fish weight (12 oz - 1 pound all the way to 3-4 pounds). Then it gives ingredients for the salt crust for each weight. For my 1-2 pound fish, I needed a teaspoon of olive oil, 4 1/2 cups of salt, 3 egg whites and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water.

I mixed all the crust ingredients in a bowl and got ready to build the crust when a little voice at my elbow asked if she could help.
Who am I to say no. Meet Dudette laying down some salt-crust on a red snapper filled with herbs, orange and onion. We made sure that the salt covered the entire fish and patted it down really well. It was a little like playing in the sand box. Once that was done, the fish went in the oven for about 20 minutes and then sat for 10 more on the counter.
The crust, at this point, is very hard. Directions told me to use the back of a heavy metal spoon to break the crust and flake it off the fish. Then I used a brush to remove any remaining salt and a spoon to peel back the skin, which came away very easily. Underneath that was some of the most moist, succulent fish I've ever eaten.
It flaked perfectly and tasted wonderful. Not at all salty. Just perfectly seasoned. I was amazed. I loved it. Hubby enjoyed it, but he's not a huge fish fan so there wasn't much fish love going on with him. What really surprised me was Dudette's reaction. It would be safe to say that she ate almost a full side by herself. She gobbled it up it and has already requested to have more tomorrow for dinner.

This is a keeper. Seriously.

Salt-Crusted Fish
from Fine Cooking Magazine

There really is no set recipe for this since you choose your own fish and aromatics and the salt crust depends on the size of the fish. So, if you are going to make this, click on the link and head to Fine Cooking. You can see the step-by-step instructions on a video as well as the chart on how much salt-crust to make and how long to cook the thing for the size fish you get.

But, for those who want a sure thing, here's what I did.

1 1.5-pound red snapper, dressed
2 thin orange slices
2 thick onion slices
2 sprigs rosemary
3 sprigs Italian parsley
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 1/2 cups kosher salt
3 egg whites
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

Rinse the fish well, inside and out. Pat the fish dry.

Stuff the fish with the orange and onion slices, rosemary and parsley. Rub the skin of the fish with the olive oil, which will help with removing the skin after the fish is cooked.

In a large bowl, combine the salt, egg whites and water. Spread a layer of salt on a rimmed baking sheet that is just a little bigger than the fish. Lay the fish on the salt and proceed to cover the fish with the remaining salt.

Roast the fish for 20-30 minutes (mine only took 20 minutes). Remove for the oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

To serve, tap the crust with the back of a large metal spoon to break it. Carefully remove the salt and use a brush to flick away and remaining salt particles. Use a spoon to gently scrape the skin off the top of the fillet and push it to the side.

Run the spoon along the spine to separate the fillet from the bones. Remove the fillet to a serving plate. One all of the top fillet is gone, grasp the tail end of the bones and pull them out, exposing the bottom fillet. Remove the aromatics from the cavity and use the spoon to remove the bottom fillet.